Hazardous Sanity
by Emerald Riddle
Summary: Students are dying at Hogwarts in some of the most horrifying ways imaginable. Ginny thinks she knows who the killer is, but how can you stop yourself? Slash, incest, suicide, gore, character death HermionexGinny ALMOST COMPLETE. HIATUS.
1. Lana Gwen and the Bracelet

**Hazardous Sanity**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just this story.**

Chapter One: Lana Gwen and the Bracelet

_Disarm you with a smile,  
And cut you like you want me to,  
Cut that little child.  
_-Smashing Pumpkins, Disarm

* * *

Ginevra Molly Weasley was looking wistfully at the bracelet Parvati Patil was showing around. It had to be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. There were huge pink jewels all around it, with four pretty diamonds between each in a cute flower pattern, then there was gorgeous sparkling gold frame holding everything together. There was even a little heart engraved in the clasp.

Ginny never wanted anything so badly. But there was no way for a Weasley to afford something so costly, most of the school could hardly afford it! There it sat on Parvati's nicely tanned arm, even though she probably had a dozen bracelets just like it.

Girls swarmed around her, touching it, examining it, whispering about how beautiful it was and asking where she had gotten it. Not that they could afford it. Pansy Parkinson sat across the room with all her expensive jewelry as well. By the sulking look on her face, she was planning to outdo the Gryffindor. Or try to. Again.

_What I wouldn't do to have fancy jewelry like all the rest of the school. even if they can't afford much, it's still more than me. Even Hermione's slightly wealthy, her parents have the same job. Fixing people's teeth. Supposedly, muggles pay a lot to have shiny teeth,_ Ginny thought sullenly.

She sneaked back up to her Common Room when she was finished with dinner, deciding to plot her way into making some galleons. There had to be a way to be successful like Fred and George, they were getting richer by the second! Even though they sent her family money, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley used it for school supplies and other "much needed" things.

The sixteen year old scoffed. What was needed was some new cool clothes and jewels. That was all she wanted, simple right? So how could she get the money that was needed? And the other things that were needed?

As Ginny walked into her dorm she saw it. Her classmate's trunk. Amber Rogers was rich, and had a lot of fun showing off her pretty (and sometimes hideous) looking things. Purses, clothes, rings, bracelets, necklaces, shoes, hair ornaments, almost anything she could think up. Amber also got new things frequently and sometimes forgot about them, yet she lets only a chosen few borrow them. Ginny not included, as she was poor and might undervalue her precious items and mess up or lose them.

Amber wasn't totally greedy and pompous though, sometimes she let Ginny hold one her things, or even keep it if it was damaged enough. Ginny growled. She had enough broken and damaged things already, she didn't need this tart's hand-me-  
downs. No matter how pretty they used to be.

Her hands nimbly worked the lock on the trunk. After a couple minutes of cursing, kicking, and hexes, she finally had it opened. Inside there was gorgeous, glittery dress robes, many jewels, and accessories. Ginny felt as if Christmas had come early as she dug through all the fantastic things.

**_CHINK!_**

Ginevra started and untied a dark purple, velvet sachet. "Oh. My. God." Galleons. Lots and lots of golden, gleaming galleons ripe for the taking. Without even having to think about it, she scooped out a handful and dumped it in her pocket. _I have money. I have lots of money to spend whenever I feel like it. However I feel like it. But I also will have lots of free time in Azkaban if I don't hurry up!_

After picking some random possessions Ginny locked the trunk and turned to her own. Then she buried it all at the bottom and looked around breathlessly. She had just stolen her roommate's money... and didn't even feel an ounce of guilt. Fear of being caught, yes, but no guilt lurked in her mind. Ginny grinned like a Cheshire cat and got ready for bed.

* * *

"Hello, Ginevra."

Ginny stared at the figure before her. "Don't call me Ginevra. I hate my name."

The figure smirked, "Too bad. You're stuck with it, unless you change it."

"I'll change it. I just don't know to what yet."

"How about Lana? Lana Gwen"

"My last name's Gwen?"

"No, no," the figure was beginning to become impatient, "Gwen is your FIRST name. Lana Gwen Weasley. See no middle name, either. Do you want to change Weasley?"

Ginny glared at him. "I'm not ashamed of my family! I'm not like Percy!"

"Indeed."

"Pompous git..." she muttered under her breath. "What do you want anyway?"

The figure smiled charmingly. "To help you, of course."

Ginny snorted. As if she hadn't heard_that_ before.

"Really, Lana. I want to help you."

"Help me in what? Potions?" she snorted.

"I know you want more money. I know you want to take control of your life and go in the best direction. I can help prod you to it. I can help you make a name for yourself. Lana Gwen, I can help you become rich."

Now Ginny was interested. "Really? Now how do you intend on doing that? Why do you even CARE?"

The figure stepped closer.

"You know I care about you, Lana. I want you to be happy, I want what's in your best interest," he said sweetly.

"You never cared about me before! You left me to die, Tom! You_framed_ me!"

"Lana, I'm not calling you Ginny. So please refrain from using Tom," he ordered.

"Alright," she agreed sullenly, "but I'm not calling you Voldemort. It's stupid and I'm not use to saying it."

He chuckled. "Call me Salazar."

Ginny made a disgusted face, but agreed regardless.

Tom seemed to decide it was time to continue. "Lana, my sweet nymph, I saw what you did just now," he whispered and swept closer to her. She didn't back away.

"What, look horrified at your new name?" But she knew what he meant, and she shivered involuntarily.

Tom stepped closer to her, "Are you cold, Lana Gwen?" he asked her.

She shook her head.

He took another step towards her and spoke gently in her ear, "Then why are you shivering?"

Ginny shivered again. She swore the temperature dropped at least twenty degrees in the room. The dark, dark room...

"I want to go now, Tom," she mumbled while trying not to show her fear.

He spoke again in her ear, "Say my new name, Lana. Say the magic words."

For once, Ginevra Molly Weasley swallowed her pride and submitted.

"I shall hail and heed you my beloved lord Salazar," she said numbly. Those were almost the exact same words she had spoke to him so many years ago... the promise that she shall let him take her over. Control her. Even if it kills her.

There was no going back now, no Harry Potter to save her. Hell, he could hardly save himself.

Tom stroked her face, "Yes, you shall heed me." His pale, thin fingers grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

Her defiant look wavered. He bent his head and bit into her bottom lip, hard. Ginny squeaked and felt the blood flow into her mouth.

Tom looked into her eyes for a second. Then his pale finger traced over her lip, making the tip red. "You shall not get away this time, Lana. You will fulfill your duty as my faithful servant, my little nymph," he told her and placed one hand around her neck.

Ginny stood still. Tom tightened his grip, harder and harder, but she still made no sound. "Good, Lana, good."

Then he brought the bloody finger to his lips, and licked it.

* * *

Ginny woke up screaming. She didn't know why, but a knot formed in her stomach. She just wished she could remember her dream. It felt important to remember it, so very important. But there was only blackness in her mind, as if she hadn't dreamed at all.

* * *

**A/N 6/18/05: I just edited the format for this a little. It was so sloppy before and I couldn't _stand_ looking at it >. **


	2. Bleed Black

**Hazardous Sanity**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just this story.**

**Chapter Two: Bleed Black**

_Like water flowing into lungs,  
I'm flowing through these days.  
As morphine tears through deadened veins,  
I'm numbing in these days.  
I know what died that night.  
It can never be brought back to life once again,  
I know.  
I know I died that night..._ -Bleed Black, AFI

* * *

The next few weeks went by in a blur for Ginny. She remembered, vaguely, nicking a few items from different people. Her friends, her enemies, her family, anyone who had anything worth having. She took money, clothes, jewelry, school supplies, even stuff she didn't really need- only wanted. 

The dreams with Tom commenced, even their silly little name game. They called each other by what they wanted to be called. The dreams really didn't reveal much, Tom was probably just taking his time. He was slowly giving her little tips for what she did and how to get a better life. Ginny never remembered the dreams, but thought the knowledge had been in her mind the whole time.

She wasn't even aware she had dreams.

She was aware, however, of her sudden mood swings and the anger that seemed to be leeched to her. Ginny always had a temper, but this one seemed constant and the littlest things set it off. She was much more violent towards others, just like Harry the year before. Most people said it was just some teenage angst she was going through, how wrong they were. She was down in the kitchens the other night, and one of the house elves dropped a knife. Being the polite girl she was, she picked it up for him.

But she didn't want to let it go.

The blade looked so pretty. So perfect. So silver. It was too shiny, it needed something on it. Red. It needed red on it. Silver and red, Slytherin and Gryffindor colors. Way better than green and red, those were Christmas colors. Christmas colors were ugly. Soon the house elf gave up and told her she could keep the knife. Without even taking her food, she walked back to her dorm with the knife in her hand. It was now under her pillow where she barely remembered putting it. But a few nights later she got up feeling hungry again. In a half daze Ginny grabbed the knife under her pillow. All she knew was that she was hungry and wanted to bring the knife. Before she could register what was happening she had an house elf at her feet asking her what she wanted. But Ginny wasn't the one looking down at the elf with sick interest.

Lana Gwen decided to take a visit, and she makes people remember who she is. Unlike Ginevra Molly Weasley.

She'll make them remember her name.

Lana Gwen raised the knife gracefully. She wondered what color an house elf's blood was dreamily before she swung down the blade like she did it everyday of her life. The elf squeaked. It was still alive. So Lana grabbed him by the head and placed the knife gently at his neck. His thin, green neck.

"Please miss, no!" But the knife already sliced deeply in his throat. Blood dribbled down his skinny chest where a large puncture was located.

_Not enough. Make them remember. Make them remember._

Stab. Stab. Stab.

_Not enough. Make them remember. Make them remember._

Slice. Slice. Slice. The house elves screamed.

_Not enough. Make them remember. Make them remember._

Gore. Blood. Flesh. Skin.

_Not enough. Make them remember. Make them remember._

Veins. Organs. Bones. Clean the bones. Clean them dry.

_Don't forget me. Don't forget me. I shall live on._

Lana, blood dripping off her clothes and smeared on her skin, turned to the quaking house elves, "You will not forget me. I shall live on. Tell everybody Lana Gwen has come to Hogwarts. Tell them they are either with me, or they die. Tell them anything else, and your bones will be hanging around my neck."

She nodded to them and left the kitchens.

House elves bleed black.

* * *

Ginny woke up the next day, clean and refreshed. She felt better than she had in days. Like she burned through her frustration in her sleep. She smiled happily as she remembered there was a Hogsmeade visit today. I can't wait to buy some new stuff with the money I have! Feeling incredibly excited, she got dressed and rushed downstairs to have breakfast. 

Breakfast was nice, she sat next to Hermione who was waiting for Ron and Harry as they chatted about exams. After they came they all sat talking and eating happily. When the hall was pretty much full, Dumbledore strolled in briskly. There was something wrong by the way he walked in so hurriedly, and so late. He was usually the first and last person at breakfast.

But he didn't sit down to eat like everyone expected him to, he stood up and cleared his throat. "There has been a tragedy at Hogwarts," he began and everyone froze in fright, "A murderer resides here by the name of Lana Gwen-"

Ginny started for a reason unknown to her. The name seemed so familiar... Her friends stared at her before glancing at Dumbledore again.

"The murder was one of a innocent house elf last night." Some of the students snorted and went back to their breakfast. The Headmaster's eyes shone with powerful anger, "This is not a laughing matter! The house elf I found was so distorted it would make many of you ill. There is no student here by the name of Lana Gwen, so it is possible there is an intruder, a death eater (many students gasped at this), or... even one of you."

All the students looked thoroughly startled now, how could they not? A murderer may be in their midst. But a sensible Ravenclaw still managed to speak up, "Just because someone killed a house elf doesn't mean they would harm us!"

Dumbledore looked at the source. "Ms. Patil, very clever observation, but I have spoken to the house elves and the murderer- this Lana Gwen, left a message for us: Lana Gwen has come to Hogwarts. You are either with me, or you die. We will not be mislead by such threats, but if you have any information on this girl called Lana Gwen, please tell your Head of House or me."

The school was in disarray. The students looked over their shoulders, they accused other students of being the killer, they were all scared of the name Lana Gwen. The Hogsmeade visit was naturally canceled until further notice, this really got Ginny fired up. Anger that was gone by the morning bubbled up furiously by nightfall. She went to sleep angry, which was never a good thing.

* * *

"Lana, Lana, Lana... killing a house elf? Isn't that a bit juvenile? I expected better of you. I thought you might've finally taken care of Ms. Rogers." 

Lana stood up in a rage. "Everyone knows my name now! They all know me, Salazar! They all fear me," she said wistfully.

Tom walked around her once, then faced her and raised her chin. "Yes, I suppose you couldn't handle anything so difficult on the first try," he bent his head and kissed her lips gently before continuing, "But if you want more to know you, to fear you, you must take larger bait. Show them all what they turned Ginevra Molly Weasley into..."

"I was never a Weasley. I'm me. Lana Gwen, the most feared and loved woman at Hogwarts. They fear me because of death, they love me for the same reason. Who says you can't scare people into loving you?" Tom, or Salazar in this case, smiled at her with unmistakable charm.

"Exactly, my sweet. Exactly."

His deceitfuleyes bore into her own.

"You are a creation all your own, aren't you," he then said, not breaking eye contact. It wasn't a question.

"Actually Salazar, you made me into this. I am your creation, soon she will be too. Soon. Half is not enough, I need all. Night and day; sleep and conciseness. It's no fun when I can burst out only when she is angry, or has done something dark."

Tom grabbed her by the shoulders, "You are not your own person. You are Ginevra's other half, the half I forced on her."

Lana growled and tried to scratch out his eyes.

He merely chuckled and went on, "No worries, my murdering nymph, no worries. You will become all Lana Gwen and Ginevra will dwell in the shadows where you have been the last six years. Have I told you it's lovely to see you again?" He eyed her up and down with a superior smirk, "All of you."

Lana mirrored his smirk and let her nightgown drop slightly over one arm.

"No," she said, her voice thick and seductive, "I do not believe you have. How about you tell me all about it while I start hexing off all your clothes?"

"I never turn down a lady"

* * *

**Author Note: I'll try to put up the prewritten chapters up at least once a week. After that, updates will be pretty random, never going longer than a month though. Should be way less...**

**A/N 6/18/05: I just edited this chapter's format as well. I'm hoping for more reviews and readers if the chapters look less moronic and sloppy.**


	3. Underneath The Covers

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. The song lyrics belong to No Doubt, not me.**

**Hazardous Sanity Chapter 3: ****Underneath the Covers**

_I'm closing all the curtains,  
So don't you even bother,  
And they're calling out murder,  
But I'm underneath the covers..._ -No Doubt, Platinum Blonde Life

* * *

Ginny tossed and turned tiredly in bed. She only had gotten several hours of sleep then she just woke up. Wide awake and scared for some reason. She hadn't had a dream, so this was peculiar. She tried going back to sleep a few times more, but was unsuccessful.

It was like she was scared of dreaming. Or not dreaming.

Dejavou prickled the back of Ginny's neck. She closed her eyes tight and took a few deep breathes. _You're just paranoid... _a small voice in her head whispered. _Just ignore it and it will go away. Get under your covers, close the curtains, and sleep the day away._

_I'm going to sleep all through the day,  
I'm going to sleep my life away,  
I'm going to sleep all through the day,  
I'm going to sleep myself away,  
I'm going to close my eyes and maybe it will go away..._

That voice sounded so familiar, so... familiar... but before Ginny could realize who it belonged to, she fell into a deep sleep. If she hadn't, she might've realized it was her own. Her own betraying voice.

Unluckily enough, Lana Gwen was hoping for this. Her image changed slightly everytime Ginny slept, into a person all her own. If you can even call her a person. But her once warm, golden brown eyes were now a cool gray. Which in her opinion was suited to her all along.

Brown. Bah. What an ugly common color.

And Lana was no commoner. Her hair was changing as well, red hair was just too bright and seemed fitted for those with pure tendencies. Of course, there were exceptions. But she didn't feel like dwelling on idiotic, evil red heads, as fun as they were to manipulate. Blond was no good either and Lana almost retched just thinking about it.

Her, a killer of those unfit to live and breathe, a bubbly blond with steel gray eyes?

Lana Gwen shuddered at the thought.

Again, she knew of the exceptions. Blond just seemed too light, though. In no way was she light. Never before was there such a demonic scoff from a innocent looking girl. Black. Black silky hair which gleamed with a silver hue in the wonderful, murderous moonlight.

Sure, Ginevra Molly Weasley had the usual looks even when Lana possessed her. Yet in her mind there dwell a beauty very great and powerful beyond her years. Soon, the raven haired witch thought maliciously soon Ginevra will be gone and I will reign above all beings. Magical, muggle, and creature shall bow down to me on my elegant throne. All that defy me will perish.

And all that follow will be rewarded beyond their naive dreams. Or in some cases, nightmares.

Tom Riddle looked on beyond the shadows. A grim smile formed on his lips. Oh, what a deceptive and secretive smile it was. _Lana dwells on her greatness as though she controls what happens in her nonexistent life._

His smile grew.

_She will find out too late where her loyalties should have lain._ With that Tom left as quietly as when he came, leaving the unknowing witch to her thoughts of power and glory.

All the while Ginny tossed and turned with a knot forming in her stomach.

* * *

_A few more deaths is all it takes... Just a few more and I'll have the power to rule._

Lana Gwen opened her eyes to see the full moon shining through the dormitory window. She couldn't help but think it was the perfect night to kill. How convenient. Her hands grasped the knife that she hid, then she climbed out of the bed and turned to see her dorm mates.

There was Amber breathing into her fluffy white pillow; Gina snoring softly while cuddled in her blankets, and Samantha who was right beside the window. Her arm was thrown over her eyes to shield the light of the moon.

_Enie meanie minie, moe, catch the whore by the toe._

Lana Gwen slipped past Gina and toward Amber, her eyes glinting maliciously.

_If she hollers, slit her throat._

Amber's hazel eyes shot open when she felt the cool blade press against her throat. Pink, pouty lips opened to scream, but it died quickly.

_Enie, meanie, minie, moe._

Lana Gwen sneered at the dying girl. Then she swiftly placed a silencing charm on her and went back to bed. The only places that was bloody was the knife placed under her mattress and the body of Amber Rogers.

Who would be found dead the next morning by her friends.

_Ginevra's in for quite a surprise tomorrow morning,_ she thought as she pulled up the covers and chuckled softly. _Stupid bitch._

* * *

Ginny awoke to the sound of screaming. Samantha Santos stood at the side of Amber Rogers bed, loud shrieking and sobbing mangled her already incoherent words. Yet, one was clear through the tears. "Mur-murder!"

Gina Ripley pointed silently to the opposite wall. If they had any doubts as to who the killer was, they were soon gone. Carved into the wall and smeared with blood, the name Lana Gwen stood clear over their heads.

Samantha still sobbed at the edge of Amber's bed. Gina was staring at the wall and had seem to go into shock. The fact that Amber was dead was too hard to bear. It was like it just couldn't sink in. And by the look of horror on her face, she hadn't died peacefully. Samantha was still crying.

None of the girls had the strength to get up and get help.

Especially not Samantha. Amber's best friend in the world. They always seemed to be connected by the shoulder. Amber wasn't a really nice person, but Samantha was kind and could still relate to her. One without the other... it was like Fred without George.

The door burst open and Hermione Granger strolled in looking scandalized.

"What is the problem in here? Ginny! I thought you knew better than this! You're waking up the whole tower!" All through the tirade she wasn't really looking at the room's contents. Now that she was settled, she spotted Amber almost instantly.

"Oh, my... what.." Hermione was, for once, rendered speechless.

Ginny looked up at the girl she has always admired. She trusted Hermione beyond anyone in her year, beyond the whole school. There stood the girl she's always loved in both a platonic way and not. Ginny lifted her tear stained face and spoke in a monotone.

"Lana Gwen," she started, "has come to Hogwarts."

Hermione looked at her, spun on her heel, and ran out of the dorm calling for help.

The body of Amber Rogers was the talk of Hogwarts for a long time. As her name passed from the mouth from student to student, Lana Gwen's was soon to follow. Little did they know, this only made her stronger.

* * *

**A/N 6/18/05: Another chapter... edited. I would also like to tell all of those who are currently reading this story that the more reviews I get, the quicker I update. Just a reminder ;)**


	4. Love and Death

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. **

**Hazardous Sanity Chapter Four: Love And Death**

_Sirens moan.  
They're forever crying.  
Maybe someone's dying.  
The sound sticks inside my head.  
Talk to myself, I'm company,  
But who is to say if nothing is said?_  
- Fishbowl by AFI

* * *

She was out again on one of her late night trips, a sharpened blade dangling from her fingertips. Lana Gwen glanced at her surroundings. The hallway was dark and slightly eerie. No one seemed to be out, which really didn't surprise her. But she had been positive there was a prefect or two about.

Soft footsteps echoed off the walls and Lana gave a malicious grin. Sarah Ramirez strolled around a corner and into the hallway. She seemed oblivious to the redheaded girl across from her. Sarah had her brow furrowed and her hands played around a Ravenclaw tie which hung loosely from her neck.

Lana observed her quietly from the shadows. Sarah walked on, her hands never leaving the blue and bronze tie. "Ramirez," Lana acknowledged quietly with a hint of amusement.

The Ravenclaw froze.

"Are you afraid, Ramirez?"

"Who are you? No students are allowed out at this time of night," she replied with an authoritative air.

Lana Gwen laughed softly.

"Scared, are you? Why don't you come into thelight, then?" Sarah spat angrily.

Lana laughed again. "For a Ravenclaw prefect you are pretty feeble-minded. Most students would run the other way if I was after them."

"As a prefect, I command you to come out into the light!"

"Why don't you come into the darkness?" Lana asked politely.

Then, deciding she played enough, Lana spoke again. "Alright. You'll be sorry." She walked slowly out of the shadows. Sarah gave a sigh of relief, "Oh. It's only you Ginny. You scared me. You know, if you weren't a prefect as well, I would be taking a lot of points from Gryffindor right now."

"Sorry, my dear, Ginny isn't here right now. I'll be glad to give her a message if you wish."

Sarah stared at her a moment, then gave a scowl. "Very funny, Gin. You really shouldn't play around like that. There is a killer about, you know. I thought of all people, that you wouldn't think of this as a joking matter.

In reply, Lana gave a harsh laugh. "Ramirez, you were always a loyal friend. Albeit an obnoxious one, but loyal. Loyalty pays off nicely. I think I'll kill you in a more humane way for being such a good acquaintance."

Sarah merely sputtered and took a step back, but it was too late because Lana was already on her. The Ravenclaw tie was hastily tightened and quickly cut off the girl's air supply. If anyone were to walk in at that moment, they would be in for an odd sight indeed. Ginevra Weasley, tiny, slim, and innocent looking was on a really tall, stronger looking Ravenclaw and strangling her with her own house tie.

Lana Gwen sat on Sarah's chest as she struggled to breathe. This girl wasn't the easiest to kill, but she had done it and came out of the whole thing with only a few scratches on her face. Sarah Ramirez came out of it dead. The look in her eyes was one of pure horror.

"I wonder how Ginevra will react to her ex-girlfriend getting killed," Lana pondered softly. Thinking of this reminded her of Hermione Granger. "We could make a powerful team if she were to join me."

Lana Gwen contemplated having Hermione as a partner as she walked through the halls and into her dorm. Then she caught sight of the mirror. Steel gray eyes looked back in a face full of malicious glee. _Soon I'll rule this sorry school, and Hermione Granger as well._

* * *

"Hey Ginny, are you okay? You've been out of it lately."

Ginevra swept a hand quickly through her flaming red hair. "It's nothing, Hermione... I just... I..." How was she supposed to tell her best female friend that she was in love with her?

Hermione gave her a concerned look and said, "If you have any problems, Ginny, you know you could talk to me, right?"

"Yeah," she replied softly, "I know..."

But instead of saying more, Ginny just began to study the notes in her hands closer. Her friend's small, neat writing flowed into her vision and she moved closer. A small part of her was overjoyed to read Hermione's beautiful words, sentences. It was pure poetry in her eyes.

Ginny felt the other girl's gaze on the back of her neck and warmed considerably. Other than that, there was no more mention of Ginevra's behavior.

The tension practically sizzled between the two girls. Hermione was always able to tell what was wrong with Ginny, so now, when she wasn't able to, she tried her best to figure it out. This was the thing that both annoyed and touched Ginny. To have someone give all their attention to her for long or short spaces of time was really nice with such a big family. But being coddled and pried for information always annoyed her somewhat.

And now, when her ex was dead, she really wanted to be alone and talk to someone at the same time. But she couldn't tell Hermione she was gay, couldn't tell her about the feelings she had boiling in her for months. Or could she?

_Hermione's understanding, she won't judge me on my sexuality. But... she might stop speaking to me if I told her I loved her... That's it! I won't tell her I love her, but I'll tell her I'm gay! That way, I can talk about Sarah with her. Maybe she can't love me... but she can help me through this._

"Hermione... I- I have something to tell you. But I'm not sure how. Can you meet me tomorrow after classes? Please, I really need to tell someone," Ginny pleaded.

Hermione looked surprised at the sudden outburst. "Ginny, anytime you want to talk, I'm here. This isn't about..." she trailed off, giving her friend a significant look.

"No! No, I just need to get something off my chest. So we're on for tomorrow, right?"

"Of course."

Ginevra sighed in relief. Then she gathered her things and went up to sleep. While she walked up the stairs she felt Hermione's chocolate eyes on her back and smiled.

_If I can't have Hermione, then I'll just have a really close friend. One I've been craving since I lost Tom Riddle's diary._

A sudden shudder flew through Ginny at the thought of his name. Wondering why she had such a violent reaction to it, Ginny climbed into her bed for a full night's sleep.

* * *

"Ah, Gwen, what a pleasant surprise! Not going out tonight, I see."

"I can't kill too many people around the same time, Salazar. You know this. That crackpot headmaster will figure out what's going on," Lana snapped. She really wanted to be out and Tom teasing her like this was getting old.

"Is that anger I hear? Better be careful, Hermione doesn't approve of pointless fury." He waited while these words sunk in before continuing. "I know what you're planning Lana Gwen, and it won't work. There's more Ginny in you than one would think. You are aware she loves Hermione Granger as well, aren't you?"

The girl trembled with rage. How dare he! "Of course I know, Salazar! That does not mean I'm similar to Ginevra! Hermione Granger is a truly admirable creature! She has abundant beauty and perpetual intelligence! She would be most valuable as my queen!"

"Ginevra Molly Weasley loves Hermione Jane Granger. You are seeing her through the eyes of Ginny. You are my creation, you will be MY queen, and you will follow my directions. Hermione is a silly school girl who will only try to help Ginny. She will never love her and never love you."

"SHE WILL LOVE ME! SHE WILL BECAUSE I WILL _MAKE HER!"_

Tom only smiled. "Hermione is straight. If you want to control the world as my right hand, you will be too. I created you, and I can destroy you. Now become your own person, Lana Gwen, and kill Hermione Granger."

Lana stared at him in horror. "No," she whispered.

Tom scowled. "You belong to_ ME_! You _WILL_ kill Hermione Granger!"

* * *

Once again, for a reason unknown to her, Ginny woke up screaming.

* * *

**A/N 6/18/05: Yey! Another chapter _fixed._**


	5. Harsh Reality

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Hazardous Sanity Chapter Five: Harsh Reality**

_If you listen, listen close, beat-by-beat,  
You can hear when the heart stops.  
I saved the pieces when it broke and Ground them all to dust. _-AFI, Bleed Black

* * *

The rest of the day passed slowly; painfully. All attempts to reach Ginevra's brain in class was useless. She was so anxious about her confession to Hermione that when Professor Sprout asked her an easy review question, she only looked at her blankly.

"Really, Ms. Weasley! We just went over this! Ms. Otero, do you know the answer?"

A klutzy Hufflepuff girl with a round face started. Her large, round glasses magnified her brown eyes so they looked too large for her head. Tania Otero's messy short hair stuck up in odd places as she ducked her face quickly in her Herbology book. Ginny suddenly realized why the girl caught her attention so sharply.

Tania Otero was like a healthier, female version of Harry Potter.

The large glasses, the messy hair, the drifting off, and the instant feeling you were with someone truthful and nice.

"That's fucking idiosyncratic," Ginny's mouth suddenly spouted.

The other Gryffindor girls just stared at her bad language before Tania answered clumsily. Fortunately, when Hufflepuff was awarded ten points they just turned and scowled. Ginny grabbed at her throat.

_Why did I just say that? And what in the thousand gates of Hell does "idiosyncratic" mean?_

It was the same thing all day. Ginny would say or think something she had no intention of and wonder where it came from.

"Probably just lack of sleep," she murmured tiredly.

"What did you say?" Harry asked. He was seated on the other chair near the fire.

"Nothing," Ginny replied quickly. Too quickly. Harry's eyebrows furrowed and he went back to staring at the fire. He had a potion's book opened on his lap but he didn't seem able to concentrate. There was something haunting about his expression. Maybe it was the glow of flames on his tired face, or the deep circles under his bright green eyes, but he looked defeated and spiritless.

She was just about to ask him what was wrong when Hermione's bushy head popped into the common room. Immediately, Ginny knew something was off. Hermione's face was screwed into one of frustration and embarrassment. She seemed really unsettled about something.

_Great, two emotional problems for me to deal with. All I need now is for Ron to come barging in saying he's fell in love with Dumbledore and I'm set for the day._

Of course, when Ron did barge in Ginny was perplexed. Luckily, it wasn't to confess his eternal love for the Headmaster. In fact, it wasn't to confess anything at all. As soon as he entered the room he ran up to the boys' dormitories.

"Ginny, you wanted to tell me something, right?" Hermione asked, startling her. Harry lifted his gaze from the fireplace to watch them.

"Yeah." Ginny hesitated before getting up abruptly, grabbing Hermione's hand, and leading her to a quiet corner. Harry watched them closely and Ginny swore she glimpsed a flicker of hurt and curiosity under his weary emerald eyes before he put his mask back up and turned to the fire again.

Hermione followed her gaze and gave hima very mournful expression. "I'm worried about him, Ginny," she said softly. "He hardly talks, he skips meals, and Ron says he's been getting nightmares almost every night now (her voice broke). In classes he falls asleep, he always jumps when someone touches him, he's gone all night sometimes... I don't know what to do," she squeaked. There were tears streaming down her face and she was trembling.

"It's all right, Hermione," Ginny whispered, embracing her and glancing over her shoulder at Harry.

_I knew something was wrong with him, I just didn't know it was this bad. I better go speak with him later. If he won't talk to any of us, I'll have to tell Dumbledore._

That would probably just get Harry royally pissed off, but Ginny never liked to see him suffer. Even though she wasn't straight, she still loved him (like a brother). They had something, a bond maybe, that not many other's could have. Voldemort. Harry and Ginny both survived encounters with him when he wanted to kill them and they both survived having him in their minds.

Harry peeked over at their corner quickly and she saw the concern for Hermione in his expressionless face. That's another thing they shared. For some reason, he suddenly looked lost and dipped his head down. The black fringe of his hair covered his downcast face, so Ginny gave up trying to pry into Harry's emotions. So many years of watching him in obsession and hero worship gave Ginny a rare gift. She can easily decipher Harry Potter's emotions even though his face looked blank. It was all in his eyes.

Emerald windows to the mind, as Ginny used to put it.

"Ginny," Hermione sniffled, "what did you want to tell me?"

Taking a deep breath, she blurted it out fast. Like when you take off a bandage, the faster you say it, the less it should hurt.

"Iamgaypleasedon'thateme."

"What?"

"Sorry. I'm gay, Hermione."

"Oh." It didn't seem to have sunken in yet.

Hermione stepped back, blinked, and shook her head. "You're gay?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

A sharp pang of annoyance pinched Ginny's stomach. "Oh."? What is "Oh." supposed to mean?

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! I've been sure since last year," Ginny snapped.

"Oh."

"STOP SAYING THAT," she bellowed at the other girl.

Hermione flinched. "Well, what do you want me to say? I'm kind of surprised is all."

"Don't you care?"

"Not really," she said, but there was a strange look on her face. "We're still friends, right? Nothing's changed between us."

Ginevra's heart clenched painfully. That hurt. That really, really hurt. But what was she expecting? Hermione jumping into her arms and snogging her senseless?

"I'm going to sleep," Ginny sighed, rubbing her face with her hands.

"Okay, I need to have a talk with Harry, anyway." Without even saying a good bye, Hermione walked away towards the warm fire and Harry's aimless stare.

Ginny ran up the steps and threw herself onto her bed. The pillow was used to stop the flood of tears and quiet the gasping sobs erupting from her throat. Soon, sleep beckoned and she grabbed the invitation eagerly.

* * *

Lana Gwen opened her eyes to the sweet darkness that always roused her from her prison. Yes, her prison inside of Ginevra Weasley's mind. Days full of watching the world from Ginny's eyes and feeling the things she felt, it was worth it to finally be alive.

Of course, she sometimes couldn't awaken from her slumber. So those nights were spent with Tom or with her own thoughts.

Yes. It was very good to be alive.

Tonight was a special night. Tonight she would lure Hermione into her firm grasp; and never let go. Lana looked into a mirror before leaving. Shiny black hair gleamed beautifully from her head. It was perfectly straight and feather soft. Her gray eyes were lined lightly with eyeliner and her perfect lips were a blood red. When she gave a smile they revealed straight white teeth.

Lana Gwen's skin was a pure kind of white, like the moon in a clear sky. There wasn't a blemish or imperfection on it. The only thing she detested about it were the freckles. Brown spots splayed like paint drops over the bridge of her delicate nose. On the bright side, they gave her a captivating angelic look.

Tiring of her excellence, Lana left the dormitory and stepped down a few stairs with her dainty feet. A white nightgown, light and sheer, was draped around her body and the chill in the air sent pleasurable shivers through her.

Lana paused.

What was that noise?

There it was again. It sounded as if some of her house mates saw fit to snog in the common room.

_The nerve! On the night I was to capture my lover!_

Refusing the urge to slice each of the Gryffindors into a thousand little pieces, Lana crept down a few more steps and peeked under the railing.

There, on the couch in the middle of the common room, were Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley.

* * *

**A/N 6/18/05: Edited. Wow, a cliffhanger. Aren't you new readers lucky that you have all these other chapters to look foward to? You don't even have to wait!**


	6. Brother of Mine

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Hazardous Sanity Chapter Five: Brother Of Mine**

_The killer in me is the killer in you, _

_My Love,_

_I send this smile over to you,_

_The killer in me is the killer in you  
_ -Smashing Pumpkins, Disarm

* * *

Breathing felt painful... so utterly painful. Why did it feel as if she was going to die?

Hermione arched her back and Ron started to kiss her neck. Her lovely, long neck.

_No._

Ron bit into her skin.

_No! She's mine!_

Hermione moaned.

_Mine. She's..._

Ron ran his hand up her shirt.

_Mine..._

Hermione grabbed his hair and pulled him closer.

_No... she's... mine..._

They laid on the couch together in a tangle of arms and legs.

_Mine._

Lana turned, unable to take it anymore. What was this weakness she felt? Ronald caused it...

"I cannot afford to be weak. Ronald, brother of mine, you shall die tonight," she whispered into the air.

In the dark, Lana waited. Waited for her chance. After an hour of disturbing noises, the creak of footsteps up the stairs caught her attention. Lana crept quickly into her dorm and pretended to sleep with the covers over her head. The door opened, then shut again after a few moments.

_She wanted to check up on m-Ginevra. How sweet._

Lana Gwen shot back out of bed and waited in a shadowy corner of the common room. Ron was nowhere to be seen.

_If he does not come back down, I will just have to go up._

But this was unnecessary, a flaming red head entered the common room via floo.

_Floo? What the hell was Ron doing in the floo?_

Then Lana remembered you could floo down to the kitchens and back.

_He has sex on the common room couch with MY queen, then he has the NERVE to FLOO his lazy ass downstairs to EAT? He's going to die a REALLY painful death,_ she thought fiercely.

Without hesitating, Lana Gwen tightened the grip on her knife and marched up behind him. The blade felt like an artist's bush, or a poet's pen, it could do only good in the eyes of the beholder. She pressed her body against her older brother and slipped the edge against his throat. One wrong move, and he would be decapitated.

His body stiffened against hers. "Scared, my brother? Time to die."

"G-gin-"

Lana dug the knife deep inside his throat. The magical knife could easily cut it off completely- but that would be no fun, would it?

Blood gurgled from his freckled face and she really got down to business. His body was sliced in any available place, very deeply. Blood seeped into the already crimson carpet, darkening a little. Lana Gwen giggled and examined his face.

She stared.

It wasn't Ron.

_It wasn't Ron?_

But then-

Lana looked closer.

She gasped. _"Fuck!"_

George Weasley's blank eyes met her startled expression.

She killed_ the wrong one._

Packages were littered around his body. All were for Ginny, who's birthday started three hours ago.

"Is anyone down there? Ron?"

Lana glanced at the mess she made, then down at her dress. The sheer, white cloth was soaked with blood and clung to her skin. Every curve of it.

Hermione gazed over the railing and gaped. "Wh-who are you? Oh my God! Are you hurt?" she asked, seeing all the blood, but not the body near the fire place.

Lana Gwen looked up at her. She looked like an avenging angel. Blood stained cloth, pure white skin, an overall beautiful and innocent appearance.

Hermione's eyes clouded over and Lana felt her stomach flip over.

_Ravishing... so perfect..._

Hermione's hair was wet from a shower and golden-brown tendrils framed her pretty face. Her eyes were glittering with only a light a lover could bring and her face was slightly flushed.

It was all Ron's doing, and Lana found she didn't care. As much as she needed and wanted to stay with her queen, she had to disappear.

So she did. She flooed down to the kitchens and back up right before dawn. Hermione was gone.

After cleaning up and changing, she drifted back into Ginny's unknowing mind.

* * *

Ginny dreamt that night. She dreamt she saw Hermione kissing Ron. She dreamed she wanted to kill him. She dreamed she killed George by accident. No matter how hard she screamed for herself to stop it, her hands kept stabbing, slicing. Then she saw Hermione in all her beauty, staring at her like a lover. The last part of the dream was the scariest, when she caught sight of her reflection in a window, another person looked back. A person vaguely familiar... but who was it?

A shriek erupted from downstairs and Ginny bolted upright.

_"No."_

She ran out into a crowd of Gryffindors by the fireplace. George Weasley lay in front of it, dead. Presents were scattered around his body and splattered with blood. The wrapping paper showed an animated picture of Ginny with the twins. In a card opened right next to George's head, it read:

_Happy sixteenth birthday Ginny! We love you!_

The rest was smeared with a thick layer of blood, but Ginny could just make out the _"From your loving brothers, Gred and Forge"_

Ginny fell to her knees, and cried.

* * *

**A/N 6/18/05: Has been edited. I know a lot of you hate me right now... but, remember, reviews feed my muse .**


	7. The Wake

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Hazardous Sanity Chapter Seven: The Wake**

_I never could have seen this far,  
I never could have seen this coming,  
It's like my world's falling apart,  
Why is everything so hard?_ -Perfect World, Simple Plan

* * *

Ginny couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it. Her brother, her George, her flesh and blood was dead! She never got to say good bye, that she loved him, how sorry she was for everything.

But that wasn't the only thing bothering her. A nagging little voice in her head was telling her that she had something to do with it. Her dream could not possibly be just coincidence, could it? But it made no sense! Yet, it came true.

George had come with presents for her and he did die that horrid death. But Ginny would know if she killed someone, wouldn't she?

The red head grasped her head in frustration, tears spilling over her cheeks in torrents. She started sobbing loudly. Her brother died! How could he have died on her birthday? Why did he leave her all alone? Who would have done this to her? What loyal Gryffindor could have done this to her? **_WHY?_**

Ginevra looked up. A mirror on the other side of the room reflected her face. Or at least she thought it was her face. She screamed and fell off of her bed in horror.

A girl, a very pretty girl with gray eyes and black hair was looking back at her.

_"WHO ARE YOU?"_ Ginny screamed, trying not to sound frightened.

But when she forced herself to look back at the mirror, her own face looked back. Not anyone else's. Not the same girl in her dream, the one who killed George.

Ginny stumbled over to the dresser, rubbing and feeling her face. Nothing was different. Nothing at all.

"It was in my head... all in my head..." she mumbled, trying to regain her composure.

It had been a week since her brother died and the funeral was today. Ron and her had to go take the train, where their parents would pick them up. Hermione and Harry were allowed to go, too, but she hadn't spoken to anyone in a while so she was not sure if they were going or not. The thing that bothered Ginny the most was how Fred might be taking the death.

The twins barely left the other's side their whole lives, and it would be hard to imagine Fred without George. Yet, Ginny was thankful that she at least did not lose both of them.

"Ginny...Are you okay?" A sweet, tentative voice asked.

Ginevra looked up to see Hermione standing awkwardly in the doorway. She tried to make a sound, but none came. Ginny only wished Hermione would come up to her, hug her, comfort her, anything but look sympathetic.

As if hearing the red head's thoughts, Hermione strode over and gave her a suffocating hug. Ginny wrapped her arms around the other girl, her heart beating rapidly. Her hair smelled of cinnamon, delicious cinnamon. Ginny inhaled it greedily and resisted the urge to lick her best friend's neck.

Hermione backed up a bit and gazed at Ginny's face. Her eyes were glazed over and she soon filled space the two of them again. But it wasn't for a hug. Ginny watched with belated breath as Hermione came closer, her lips pink and moist, until she saw every precious detail of her love's face.

That was when Ginny finally tasted Hermione's lips.

They tasted like chocolate. Or at least just as sweet and good.

Dark bouncing curls stuck to Ginny's wet cheeks, but she didn't mind, and the kissing was sloppy, unfamiliar. Yet, it was all perfect. She wished it would last forever and never end.

But it did end. Hermione leaned back and stuttered apologies before rushing off. It felt like Ginevra's heart was torn out, the way she left so quickly, like it was all a mistake. But she couldn't help running her fingers over her lips, cherishing the sweet taste of the other girl's mouth.

Her day just got better. Even if it was by a small portion.

Suddenly Ron's voice called from the common room. It was time to go. Hermione and Harry were waiting with him, both wearing formal black robes. Harry did not look much different. He was still pale, his eyes glowing a frighteningly shade of green with dark circles around them. Ginny knew what was wrong with him, he was wallowing in guilt again. Even after she went to the headmaster, nothing changed. He still acted the same.

Her thoughts followed her all through the train ride.

Hermione was staring at her. Even though she lingered at Ron's side her eyes never left Ginevra. All Ginny wanted to do was sink into Hermione's brown eyes and kiss her until everything else disappeared. They both shared embarrassed glances, but both knew what the other wanted. They wanted this all to end. They just wanted to be happy again.

But maybe the best way to be happy was to stick together.

Even if it wasn't, it was somethingGinny did not want to let go of.

_Ever._

The funeral was something Ginny wished to forget with all her might. Fred, whose eyes were red and puffy, stood next to the casket. Next to George. His best friend, his brother, his business partner. His twin. George looked so calm and peaceful. Ginny wished she could just touch his face and he would wake up, as if nothing ever happened.

She did not know how long she stood there. It could have been seconds, minutes, or even hours... but soon Ginny couldn't hold in the violent sobs that racked her body. She fell to the carpeted floor in a small heap, crying and trying to rip the red hair out of her head.

Two warm, comforting arms wrapped around her body for the second time that day. But it was not Hermione. It was Fred. Tears were streaming down his face as well. Ginny stopped crying in a bit of wonder. She had never seen Fred cry.

He hugged her close to his familiar body and Ginny hugged back. They rocked back and forth in an attempt to regain control in themselves; clutching the other's body in a sort of life support.

Ginny planted kisses all over Fred's face, a strong bond of love formed between them in that moment, and Ginny felt she could suddenly tell him anything. However, all she could say was "Sorry!" over and over again. Fred pulled her into a tighter embrace and kissed her forehead.

"It wasn't your fault... Don't ever think it was your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but Voldemort's. Nobody could connect him to the death, but I know it was, Gin, I know it was..." Fred murmured into her hair.

Ginny gulped in some air but only to cry some more. She pulled their faces together again and their tears mixed in a sad kind of affection as their cheeks rubbed together.

Soon, Molly joined the crying group, then Arthur, then the rest of the family. Harry and Hermione stood in an awkward corner, Harry's eyes betraying a sadness and guilt equivalent to any of the Weasley's. Hermione saw this and gathered Harry into a sisterly hug. The other guests looked away, intruders on the family's grief.

Ginny couldn't take any of this sadness anymore. She tore out of the group hug and rushed to the bathroom. She didn't notice Fred right behind her. As the bathroom door closed, she fell to the floor again and crawled toward the sink. Then she hoisted herself up by holding onto the edges of the sink.

In the mirror was not her face. It was the girl's face again. She winked and gave Ginny a superior smirk. Ginny let out a cry of horror and smashed the reflection with her fist. Shards of glass flew out in different directions. Then she noticed her hand. Her sliced hand was dripping giant maroon colored drops of blood. They trailed down her arm slowly and Ginny watched it in fascination.

_I killed George,_ she thought._ I know I did. I have to stop myself before I kill anyone else. There's only one way._

She took the glass out of her skin and steadied her hand so she could make a clean cut across her wrist. Then she pulled her hand back and tried to plunge the shard into her flesh. But it wouldn't move. Someone was holding her arm.

Ginny tilted her head back and thought for a moment that it was George. But no, it was Fred. The door was opened, but he soon released her arm to go close and lock it. Then he kneeled next to her, and plied the glass out of her hand before tossing it to the floor.

Fred took out his wand and repaired the mirror.

He gave Ginny a knowing look, then helped her mop up the bloody mess on her hand. They shared another hug. This time neither cried. It was silent, the air full of mourning. Ginevra looked into Fred's eyes and they stayed like that for quite awhile. Then, for some reason unknown to her, she kissed him.

And surprisingly, he kissed back.

This kiss wasn't the same as the one with Hermione. That one was sweet, slow, soothing. This kiss was desperate and needed. It was a kiss to escape Hell. it was forbidden and felt simply good, which was what both wanted. But it wasn't enough. They needed more.

A kiss was too simple to make people forget.

Fred pushed Ginny onto the floor and she let him. In fact, she entwined her legs around his waist. Her black robes were gathered around her hips. So her pink panties were revealed and just a bit of skin. Just enough to see her bellybutton.

She pulled Fred into such a fierce kiss after that, that their lips bled with the intensity. Instead of pausing, they licked up the blood, reveling in anything other than reality. Locks of red hair were pulled out of his head as Ginny grasped him in an attempt to forget, to never let go.

Fred's hands traveled up his sister's tummy, pulling her bra cups aside and squeezing her breasts harshly. Ginny moaned and arched her back, rubbing their crotches together and ripping off Fred's robes. He did the same and she never thought something so wrong and painful could feel so good.

He moved inside her and she cried out, tears spilling out past her eyelashes. Fred cried, too. They knew this was wrong, but they couldn't stop. After this everything would change. Yet, they needed this for their sanity. For a short trip down ignorance's saccharine roads.

* * *

**A/N 6/18/05: Just edited this chapter. And yes, yes I _Know._ I know it's like "WTF? INCEST!" But you can't say I didn't warn you. I mean, I put the warnings in the summary, which should be the first thing you read. I _said_ it had suicide, incest, slash and gore, so don't you _dare_ complain. Now, as I say a lot, reviews feed my muse and my muse makes me update faster.**


	8. Punishment For Disobedience

**Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, Harry Potter. I am not making anything off of this but reviews from my loyal and much loved readers.**

**Hazardous Sanity By _Emerald Riddle 3/05_**

**Chapter 8: Punishment For Disobedience**

_The light in my eyes,  
Holding tight and,  
Try not to hide how I feel,  
Cause feelings mean nothing now,  
I can't care to worry,  
I'm feeling so lonely,  
Breaking apart all this love in my heart_ -Yesterday's Feelings by The Used

* * *

Tom grabbed Lana Gwen by her hair. She wasn't expecting it and squealed in pain as several hairs were plucked from her head.

"What did you think you were doing, Lana?" he whispered harshly in her ear.

She didn't respond and tried to free herself in vain.

"Did you think you could betray me so easily? Did you think you could just disobey my orders?" He yanked hard on her hair before letting her stumble to the floor.

"What did you think you were doing!" Tom kicked her in the side as she tried to crawl away from him. "Answer me!"

"I didn't do anything! I didn't do _ANYTHING_," Lana screamed.

"Liar. You filthy little liar! I _CREATED_ YOU! I know every little thing you do, every little thought you entertain in that bubble-filled head of yours! You were trying to seduce that mudblood! You tried to seduce her even after I gave you my command to kill her!" Tom towered over her. "_How-dare-you_," he yelled as he kicked her with every word.

Then he kneeled next to her cowering figure and grabbed her face. "I own you, understand? You will do as I say. Further disobedience will not be tolerated, Lana Gwen."

Lana nodded.

"Say it," he commanded.

"I-I will do as you say from now on, my Lord."

"Good. Be sure of that."

* * *

"Ginny," a tentative voice whispered in her ear. "Ginny, are you awake?"

"I am now."

Hermione apologized profusely but Ginny just waved her off. "What do you want, Hermione?"

"I wanted... I wanted to see if you were okay."

Ginny looked up. "I'm fine. I have always been fine; I will always be fine. Don't you understand that by now?"

Hermione seemed startled. "I just..."

"You just what?" Ginny snapped. "You just decided to stop toying with my emotions? You just realized that I'm not in the best of emotional states right now? Did you JUST realize that my brother is dead, my friends are dying, and that _I LOVE YOU?_!"

"N-no!"

Ginny pushed away her bedding and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. "You disgust me, Hermione. You disgust me."

Tears fell down Hermione's cheeks now. "I didn't- you never- I- I..." She gasped as sobs wracked her body.

Ginevra didn't know what to feel about her best friend right now. She still loved her, but the way Hermione just ignored the fact that they kissed, that they shared a new type of bond, that she knew she loved her... It was tearing Ginny apart! How could Hermione just pretend nothing ever happened? How could she mess with her emotions like that?

Seeing Hermione stand there crying wasn't something Ginny wanted to see. She did not want to feel guilty. She did not want to feel dirty for the things she's done. She did not want to wonder who was going to die next, or if she knew who the murderer was. All she wanted to do was crawl under the covers and go to sleep. To forget about Fred and George, having sex, being gay, and stealing. _**Stealing!**_ _How could I have ever destroyed my family pride so badly that I would resort to STEALING,_ Ginny thought, feeling dismayed and disgusted at her previous actions.

Almost unconsciously, Ginny turned toward the mirror on the opposite side of the room. The killer glared back. She didn't wink or smile like a demon nymph; she glared and seethed with fury. Ginny was too used to this to really care.

_I need to get out of here_, Ginny thought to herself._ I need to get out of this insanity trap._

Hermione still stood there, crying and shuddering like she would never stop. Ginny pulled Hermione down onto the bed. "Do you want to be useful?" she asked.

Hermione nodded.

"Okay, I need your help. I think I know who the killer is," Ginny announced, her eyes shifting back toward the mirror...

* * *

Lana Gwen cradled her bruised arm. She was angry at Tom for treating her like this; as if she was some common mudblood to be kicked and screamed at! No. She didn't belong to anyone.

Tom betrayed her, she knew this for a fact. While she was out trying to seduce her new queen she felt a dark shadow following her. Watching her. It was a familiar presence, too familiar, in fact. It was Ginevra. The little redheaded whelp saw what happened to her brother and knew. Ginny knew. Ginny knew the face of the murderous beauty, she knew of her anger against Ronald for kissing her queen, but most of all- she knew that Lana wanted Hermione with all her heart and soul. With every fiber of her being.

And Tom let her know.

The only way Ginevra could see into Lana Gwen's eyes was if Tom allowed her to. It was his punishment for his "little demon nymph."

Lana scowled. She knew Tom Marvolo Riddle had an uncommon soft spot for the Weasel. It was something about the innocence and fire of the redhead that drove him insane with lust- or was it something else? The way he would look at her now, with black hair and gray eyes, it was completely different from what it used to be. When she looked like Ginevra, he was crazed with sex. Now he looked down on her as if she was one of his servants.

Lana Gwen spat some blood on the floor.

Nobody owned her. She would do as she wished. With or without Tom's help.

* * *

Hermione stared back at Ginny in horror.

"I just know it's like last time, Hermione," she said fervently. "I just know it has something to do with Tom- or, or Vold- de- Voldemort. It is just exactly the same! I don't have blackouts, but I don't have dreams... except for one..." Ginny told her about the dream about George and the beautiful girl's reflection in the window.

Hermione paled. "Ginny, your dream, it was-"

"True?"

"Yes!" Hermione exclaimed. "It was true! I was there, I saw her... I didn't know she was the murderer! I didn't know she was Lana Gwen! Oh God, Ginny! She was just so-"

"Beautiful?" Ginny finished coldly.

Hermione stayed silent, a pink blush creeping up on her cheeks.

"Yes, she was beautiful. But she also killed my brother! You are so _DENSE_ when it comes to looks, Hermione! You'll love anything as long as it's pretty enough!" Ginny yelled at her.

"I most certainly will not! You are one of the most beautiful girls I know, but that doesn't mean I love you!"

Time seemed to freeze.

_I never thought it was possible,_ Ginny thought numbly, _that someone could give you one of the biggest compliments available, then tear your heart right out with their fist._

* * *

He wants me to kill? So I shall.

Lana Gwen threw off Ginevra's bedding impatiently. She listened closely for any movement and peered into the darkness, her eyes glittering like a dragon's. Each girl lay in her bed, breathing deeply and probably dreaming of lollipops and candy canes. Lana threw back her head, her anger raging like a vicious fire inside her, and gave an eerie cackle.

Hogwarts will heed me. So mote it be.

The moon sparkled on her skin, but she did not admire her beauty. She turned to the quaking girls staring at her; and she smiled revealing pearly white teeth.

_Ginevra will pay for trying to interfere._

Something smelled funny. Ginny could smell it as she slept. It smelled of fresh death. It smelled like Amber.

It smelled like George.

_I don't want to wake up. I don't need to. I already know what I'll find_. The thoughts floated through her mind and she accepted them.

There was nothing she could do.

Ginny slept on and tried to stop the tears from flowing from under her closed eyelids.

_Nothing I can do..._

* * *

Lana Gwen succeeded in annoying Tom. When daylight streamed through the window and illuminated her art, her macabre beauty, Lana left to find a seething Dark Lord.

His eyes glowed red. His handsome features melted. For the first time in her existence, Lana was horrified. The man standing before her did not have deep green eyes or thick black hair. He was a pale white with angry little slits for eyes and two snake-like holes on his face for nostrils. Tom was never the young memory he pretended to be. It was a mask. A scam.

Voldemort pulled his lips back into a furious growl.

"Like me now, Lana Gwen?"

Then he grabbed her by the hair and forced her to the floor, tearing the silky white nightdress from her body andgnawing onher lips so hard they bled.

_Punishment,_ Lana thought as she lay on the floor, half conscious. _Punishment for disobedience._

* * *

**A/N 6/18/05: Just edited. Please review ;)**


	9. Murderer

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do however, own Bob the funny monkey. Wave to the people, Bob!**

**Hazardous Sanity**

**Chapter Nine: Murderer**

_Hard days made me,_  
_Hard nights shaped me,  
I don't know,  
They somehow saved me,  
And I know I'm making something,  
Out of this life they called nothing,  
I take what I want,  
I take what I need,  
You say its wrong but it's right for me,  
I won't look down,  
I won't say I'm sorry,  
I know that only God can judge me._  
-The Young And The Hopeless by Good Charlotte

* * *

Ginny left. It didn't take but two seconds to decide, but she left. The dorm room smelled disgusting and she dared not look around, instead she just walked calmly to the door and down the hall.

"I won't be blamed for things I haven't done. Not again," she whispered.

The sun was rising and the sky looked gold. The world kept on turning. Nothing was disrupted by several innocent teenagers being torn apart violently. There was some curiosity in Ginevra. Why hadn't they hexed the murderer? Why didn't they DO anything? Surely the sixth year girl's dorm knew _SOME_ form of self defense!

"They were surprised and scared. Those girls never saw it coming..." Ginny decided sadly.

Last night she had a plan, a pretty good plan that she started working out with Hermione. But it would never work. Lana Gwen was in her mind. She knew everything Ginny thought!

"The best thing to do," she murmured.

The red head walked around for an hour and then headed for the bathroom on the second floor. Fred stopped her the first time because he didn't know. He didn't know that there was a monster inside of her fighting to get out and kill them all. In a way, Ginny was happy about what she was about to do. What point was there in living? Hermione didn't love her, she could be no real help in the war... Besides, she didn't want to live to see the destruction and horror it caused. This wasn't a selfish thing. It was for everybody's safety. Hermione could at least tell them that.

But as she opened the door she saw that her plan would not be able to succeed. Harry Potter sat on one of the sinks. He looked over at her and gave her a weak smile.

"What are you doing here? This is the girls' bathroom, you know," Ginny said without any real conviction.

Harry looked at her strangely. "Yes, of course I know. How daft do you think I am? I may be thick, but I can still read." He seemed to be taking a stab at humor.

_How strange,_ she thought. _He almost never speaks, let alone tell jokes._

He smiled at her again. It looked so forced, so... painful for him to smile.

"Harry," Ginny said seriously. "Why are you here at this time?" He opened his mouth but she interrupted him. "I want the truth, Harry James Potter, do you hear me?" There was a bit of her mother in her voice, and she was almost proud of it.

He blinked. "It's... I just... I've been having these dreams, Ginny... about you. They aren't very good," he finished seriously.

* * *

Lana lay on the floor. Her hair stuck to the sweat and blood on her cheeks. On the wall before her was a kind of movie screen. Harry Potter's voice echoed into the dark, dank room as his lips moved silently.

"Last night... I dreamed of you killing your dorm mates... Slashing them to... to..." his voice trailed off as he shuddered and looked as if he was going to be ill. "But it didn't look like you at all."

Ginny glared at him.

Harry looked taken aback at what he just said. "No! I didn't mean that! I meant... I meant she looked like Tom Riddle. She looked evil. I could sense it."

"What do you mean _'I could sense it.'_? How could you sense something in a dream, Harry?" Ginny asked him, puzzled.

He ducked his head so his hair hid his face. It was a habit she was used to by now.

"I-I'm not sure. I knew that she wasn't real, though. She didn't have her own soul."

_"What?"_ she yelled. "How can Lana Gwen _NOT_ have a soul, Harry? _HOW?_ She _HAS_ to have a soul! Or how can she be inside of me unless-" Her eyes widened in horror. "No."

Harry's green eyes glanced at her quickly before looking down at his feet again. "Yes," he whispered quietly.

"You are Lana Gwen, Ginny. You always were."

"No, I c-can't be... Why would I... _No!"_ The red head screamed before spinning on her heal and running away wildly.

Lana curled into a ball and cried for herself. She cried for Ginny.

_

* * *

No, no, no, no, no... I amnot Lana Gwen. I amnot Lana Gwen. I amnot Lana Gwen._

_I didn't kill a house elf. I didn't kill Sarah. I didn't kill Amber. I didn't kill all of my dorm mates._

_I didn't kill George._

Ginny ran and ran. Students glared at her as she shoved them out of her way. Out of Lana's way. Passing the Great Hall, a student stood in front of her and she kept going. Her hands getting ready to push the defiant snot right into the marble floor. Then she saw the cloud of puffy brown hair and swerved sharply to the left, losing her footing.

_I'm not a murderer. I'm not a murder. I'm not..._

A thin hand wafted into her vision.

_I'm not a murderer. Help me... I'm not a..._

Ginny let the tears fall down her cheeks as she took the hand and the warm comforting hug that went with it.

"I'm not a murderer, Hermione... I'm not," she sobbed into the other girl's hair. How she have ever thought Hermione spineless, even for a second?

"I know," Hermione murmured, rubbing Ginny's back. "I know."

* * *

"Tom," Lana Gwen sobbed weakly. "How could you do this, Tom? I loved you. I loved you, Tom!"

Voldemort slapped her harshly across her face. "My name is Lord Voldemort, you disgusting little worm. I suggest you call me that."

Her black hair started fading into a fiery red. Its original color. She started shrinking into Ginny's small frame.

"Tom," Lana wailed. "Tom! I trusted you, Tom! I trusted you! I trusted you again and you betrayed me! Again!"

"Lana," he growled threateningly.

"No! My name is Ginny! My fucking name is Ginny and you know it, you daft old bastard!" Lana's eyes were wide and crazed.

He raised his wand. _"Crucio."_

The girl writhed in pain.

On the wall, he could see Ginny fall to the floor mimicking Lana's movements. Lana was resisting the magic, the bond, the sacred oath which to she agreed to.

"Harry Potter knows," Lana yelled madly, cackling like a lunatic as the crucio wore off. "He knows, Tommy! He knows and you're screwed!_ HAHA!_ I guess your stupid plan to infiltrate Hogwarts _FAILED! YOU FAILED, TOMMY!"_

Voldemort kicked her so hard in the face that Lana was knocked backwards into silence.

* * *

"Ginny! Ginny, what's the matter?" Hermione asked, panic stricken.

"Pain..." she groaned. "He c-cast crucio on Lana..."

"Oh God, Ginny. Who? Who cast it?"

"Voldemort."

Hermione screamed into her hand. Groups of students circled around them, whispering amongst themselves.

"She's finally cracked, then," Pansy Parkinson scoffed to Draco Malfoy. He didn't laugh. His silvery gaze was set on Ginny. He seemed to know what was going on.

Hermione wanted to demand an explanation from him, but she was too angry and her nerves were too frayed. Instead, she got up, marched over to Pansy, and looked straight into her blue eyes. Everyone watched tensely, everyone except Draco. He was staring at Ginny again, an odd glimmer in his eyes. He looked dangerous.

But all Hermione could see was Pansy. Years of built up rage boiled in her. Pansy sneered back at her, looking more like a deformed pug than anything. "Going to do something, Granger? Your little _dyke_ of a friend over there is waiting for you." Everyone gasped, then some of the Slytherins started laughing.

"You know what you are Pansy?" A voice rang out from the back. "You're a female, and you look like a dog. So I guess that can onlymean you're a bitch."

Everyone's head swiveled to look at Ron Weasley, his ears a record-breaking pink. The Gryffindors howled with laughter, and Ginny smiled tearfully at him. Her older brother, her protector, was back. Harry trailed behind him and hid a smile under his hair.

Pansy directed her next comment to him. "I wouldn't be smiling if I were you, Potty. What happened to your _GODFATHER_ might end up happening to your little friend there." Harry tensed up.

"What, may I ask, is going on here?" A silky voice asked.

Hermione didn't hear it. She dropped her wand, pulled back her fist, and punched Pansy full force on her pug nose. A loud crack was then heard, followed by shouts of shock. Pansy's stumbled over her robes and Hermione automatically grabbed onto her collar, pulling her up and curling her fingers so that she was choking the other girl slightly.

"You'll pay for this, Granger..." she coughed out, blood dripping from her nose.

Hermione let go of the collar and slapped her. She moved to hit the other girl again, but-

"Stupefy!"

She started falling as her body lost its balance and was saved by a pair of shaking hands before she hit the ground. Ginny looked down on her with worry creasing her face before Snape appeared and revived her.

"Sixty-five points from Gryffindor for striking another student, Ms. Granger. Please follow me."

He looked at Pansy being supported by her friends as Draco stood to the side, seeming more than a little amused. "Take her to the Hospital Wing," he commanded them before stalking off with Hermione Granger at his heels.

* * *

**A/N: Well, I just wanted to tell all of you how much I appreciate every single review I recieve! They lift my spirit to no end! This story is nearing the ending stages, so I hope you'll stick with me!**

**A/N 6/18/05: I just edited this. I also remembered that I _really, really _like this chapter ;) Hermione kicks some ass XD The more you review, the faster I update!**


	10. Looking Back And Forgetting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I just like to torture him and his friends ;)**

**Hazardous Sanity**

**_By Emerald Riddle 4/05_**

**Chapter Ten: Looking Back And Forgetting**

_Times are gone when you would say,_

_This is the one come seize the day,_

_Times are gone for honesty,_

_"My victory is your defeat"_

_Oh, can't you see you've been mistaken?_

-In My Life by The Rasmus

* * *

Ginny sat in the Gryffindor common room with Harry and Ron, waiting for Hermione to return.

"She's been gone for _hours_," Ron muttered as he wore the end of his sleeve with his fingers.

"She hasn't been gone for hours, Ron," Ginny said angrily. "And stop ruining your shirt! Merlin knows if we can afford a new one!"

Ron's ears turned pink, but he didn't back down. "Of course we can afford anew bloody shirt! We aren't THAT poor!"

She looked like she was about to reply when the door to the common room swung open and Hermione emerged, wiping sweat from her brow. Wet tendrils of hair stuck to her face as if she had just been to a sauna instead of Snape's freezing cold dungeons.

Ron jumped up, relieved to get away from Ginny, and started on Hermione. "Where were you? What did Snape do to you? Did he bring you to the Headmaster? Did you lose anymore points?"

She didn't answer. Ignoring Ron, Hermione fell into one of the squashy armchairs by the fire. Ginny thought that was odd, considering how sweaty she was. Harry moved to her side and started whispering something in her ear as he held her hand.

_Funny, I never noticed how close the two of them were... _Ginny thought while watching the exchange of whispers and reassuring hugs.

Her brother rolled his eyes and settled back into his spot on the sofa.

_Ron seems to be used to it. Why did I never notice if he did? I certainly watch the two of them enough._

Hermione seemed to be fighting back tears as Harry murmured gentle words into her ear. It struck Ginny with such force, she did a double take.

_I never once really watched them together. Never. I watched Hermione alone. I watched Harry alone. I watched them with Ron and with other students, but not together._

Harry leaned into theballs of his feet as he held the arm of the chair to support him. "Ginny, Snape brought Hermione to the Headmaster. They were questioning her on the murders, it had nothing to do with what happened downstairs. They said that if they didn't figure out what was going on soon, the Minister is going to take the investigation into his own hands. And that means somebody, maybe even someone innocent, will be going into Azkaban for a life sentence." He paused to let that sink in, then continued.

"The Minister is already working with the Aurors and compiling suspects. Right now they think it may be a death eater... but they have a few students in their heads as well. One of them would have been me, but apparently, Fudge doesn't want a repeat of my fifth year. They narrowed it down to a few Gryffindors... One of them is Ron."

Ginny and Ron gasped.

"Another is Hermione."

Ginny felt as if she was slapped in the face.

Harry still continued, "And they reckon that with the fresh murders this morning... you'll be added to the list, Gin."

"But _WHY?_ Why would they think Ron would kill a member of his own family? Why do they think Hermione would even think of killing? Why?" Ginny screamed in frustration. Angry tears spilled from her eyes.

Ron just continued gaping like a fish. His shirt sleeve was now in shreds.

Harry sighed. "The killer had to be clever. Hermione, as you know... is very clever. Ron has a bad temper. They are also my two best friends. Fudge has this whole conspiracy thing going on in his head..."

Ginevra turned to Hermione. "What did you tell the Headmaster?" She asked wearily.

"I- I... didn't tell him anything, really," she said.

"Then I'll have to-" Ginny was interrupted by the common room door swinging open again.

McGonagall strolled in, her actions jerky. "Mr. and Miss. Weasley, if you will please come with me?"

Ron and Ginny got up automatically, their heads buzzing so loudly that they didn't even think to ask why they were needed.

In McGonagall's office, they got the news that their brother, Fred, killed himself yesterday afternoon.

* * *

Lana Gwen watched as everything unfolded on the screen in Ginevra's mind. She woke up to find herself tied to a chair in front of it, so she really had no other choice.

It felt as if her mind was tearing itself in two, coming together again, then doing the cycle over and over repeatedly. She was now more aware than ever of how incomplete she felt. Like she was missing her other half.

Which, in this case, she was.

But she watched as everything fell apart in the Wizarding school. Students dying because of her. Her love, her queen, accused of it. Ronald, her brother, being confused and really not being told anything. Then there was Harry Potter... Ginevra usually perceived him as weak and in need of protection. But she was wrong.

Out of all the students and teachers in Hogwarts, he had to be the least person likely to need protection.

When somebody needed comforting, he was there. When everybody was panicking, he stayed calm. When emotions ran high and haphazard, he didn't react. He was smart, hiding the strength in his face with his hair so those close to him didn't notice. Not even Ginny.

Potter crept behind the scenes, helping those who did not even know it.

_How very **Slytherin, **_Lana thought.

Voldemort always scoffed at him, but really, he was the one being fooled. The Potter boy knew what was going on, and Lana knew he would be the one to surprise them all by saving them.

Saving _her._

_Or at least I hope so._

* * *

Ginny sat in Hermione's dorm room, her own not yet fit for living. She shared a bed with Hermione even though she had her own in the far corner of the room. They both thought this was a good idea.

The news that Fred killed himself... Well, it didn't really surprise anyone but Ron. It was bound to happen after George died, Ginny was just sad it had to happen so soon... They didn't even get a chance to talk about what happened at George's wake. It was, of course, a mistake. Ginny wasn't attracted to her brother like that. Besides, she was a lesbian. She wasn't attracted to _any _guy like that.

The two of them just needed... something. Something different. Something that felt good, something that hurt, something... that needed company to be done.

She did not know whether to regret it or not.

Hermione lay curled up on the other side of her bed, her breathing was even and her breasts rose and fell with her chest. Ginny felt suffocated. She wanted something like what she and Fred had. She wanted a moment of blissful ignorance and sharp twists of pain and lust mixed so much they blurred.

But Hermione would just push her away.

Ginny looked around the dorm room and saw Parvati. She heard stories of Parvati... Stories of her with guys, with girls, with _both._ She was pretty sure the girl was bisexual. Once she stumbled upon her and Lavender kissing in the second floor bathroom (the new place for lovers). Before that, she stumbled on her kissing Seamus in the Astronomy Tower.

_Gets around, Parvati does..._ Ginny mused before laying down next to her.

She straddled Parvati lightly before kissing her gently awake. The girl moaned slightly and kissed back. The kissing increased its passion and finally, her eyes fluttered open.

"Ginny?" she groaned, looking very groggy and confused.

Ginevra put her finger to Parvati's lips, pulled the curtain shut around them, and got down to some serious kissing with Gryffindor's favorite sex maniac, other than Seamus of course.

* * *

**Author's Note:**_ **I just really wanted to thank all my loyal reviewers, you don't know how much those help keep me going! I have to tell you again, that this story is not done yet but it is in the stages of ending. You can expect a few more chapters before the final climax ;) Remember! The more reviews I get the quicker I'll update! They feed my muse . Oh, and I have had this written sice APRIL... But I was unable to upload it. Now that I have my new computer, this should not be happening again. Much love to you all!**_

**_A/N 6/18/05: This chapter has been EDITED._**


	11. Cloaks Of False Realities

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not make any money off of him in any way. But hey, sue me anyway! I only have an ancient laptop and an empty coffee mug to give ya ;)**

**Hazardous Sanity**

_**By Emerald Riddle on 4/05**_

**Chapter Eleven: Cloaks Of False Realities**

_Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming,_

_Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights,_

_Oh how I long for the deep sleep dreaming,_

_The goddess of imaginary light_

Imaginary by Evanescence

* * *

Ginny woke up to a stinging slap on her face. 

"HOW-DARE-YOU!" Hermione was screaming in some kind of mix of fury and anguish. "HOW CAN YOU DO THAT, GINNY? HOW? YOU'RE BROTHER JUST DIED! VOLDEMORT! HOW COULD YOU?" Her yelling was a jumble of incoherent words and everyone in the dorm stared at her silently.

Hermione Granger losing her cool? No way could _this _be happening.

Yet, it continued until she screamed so loudly and so angrily that her wand hand let loose several sparks and her hair seemed to _crackle_ with wild magic. Then she ran from the room, her vision blinded by tears.

Ginny stared at Parvati and Parvati stared at Ginny.

They were both completely naked from the waist up and the rest of their bodies were covered by bed sheets. The rest of the dorm looked over at them. After all the screaming the silence seemed to deafen them all. Quietly, Ginny got up and pulled a sheet around her. Then she took some of her clothes and went to the bath to get dressed.

Her head buzzed.

Why would Hermione care if she slept with Parvati? It wasn't any of her business who she slept with!

As she walked out of the seventh year girls' dorm, fully dressed, she could have sworn to see a look of contempt on Lavender's face. She quickly raced out of the tower.

This could not be happening.

Ginny ran and ran. Her chest ached and a stitch in her side became almost unbearable.

_Almost._

_Every footstep spoke to her; spoke to those around her._

_Why-_

_Step._

_does-_

_Step._

_everything-_

_Step._

_happen-_

_Step._

_to-_

Ginny's foot connected with something before it could reach the floor and she fell. Why was she always falling? Pansy took her leg from its place in the middle of the corridor and she sneered.

_me?_

* * *

An eerie voice echoed throughout the darkness. "I'm going to have to get rid of you, Lana. You are making too much trouble for me." 

"Get rid of me? How?"

"Get rid of you and the young Weasley."

"What? You can't-"

Voldemort backhanded her into silence.

"I believe I can do whatever want. Granger goes first."

Lana stared silently out of Ginny's eyes as she fell.

_Everything's falling apart,_ she thought as a solitary tear slid down her face.

* * *

Ginny picked herself up and looked blankly at Pansy. She felt no anger or resentment. She just felt tired. 

"What do you want, Parkinson?" she asked wearily.

"I want revenge," she said. Then she pulled her wand out of her pocket and aimed it at Ginny's nose.

Both girls heard footsteps coming from behind Pansy, but neither turned around. Their eyes were focused primarily on each other. Pansy didn't say a word, she just held her wand.

"Go away Draco. This is none of your business," the pug nosed girl suddenly erupted.

Ginny wanted to ask her how she knew it was Malfoy, but her mouth remained closed.

"This _is_ my business, Pansy. I'm a prefect, remember? You'll need to back off or I'll have to take points," Malfoy's voice said coolly.

Pansy _did _back off, but that didn't stop her from arguing. "This is worth much more than points, Draco, and you know it. You need to stop your little fantasies involving the weasel or you might just find yourself," she stepped closer to him, caressing his pale face, "in quite a predicament." Malfoy shoved her hand away in disgust, and she walked away, her hips swaying softly.

Malfoy turned to Ginny and sneered. "You better get going before I take points from Gryffindor as well."

"You don't own the halls, Malfoy! I can go anywhere I want. As you should know by now, I'm a prefect too!"

He stepped closer. He was so close his breath tickled her ear. "I would watch where I step, weasel. There are potholes _everywhere._ Some are right in your face and you don't even know it."

Ginevra rolled her eyes. "Get out my way, you ferrety moron."

He narrowed his eyes. "You'll pay for that."

As Ginny walked away she thought, _I have nothing else to pay with, Malfoy._

* * *

Lana awoke to find herself real. Real. She was in Ginny's body again. She was in her bed and wearing her clothes. 

_Oh God, no._

She had to kill Hermione. She had no other choice. The power, the _need _for blood. Hermione Granger's blood in particular. She could have her before she killed her but-

_No. No. No. I don't want to-I can't- I could never hurt my queen!_

But she was up, her blade was out, and she was already on her way. The halls seemed to stretch out and close in at the same time. The need for blood and sex made her sweat in anticipation, but the thought of killing her beloved shattered her heart. Finally, she stood outside of the seventh years girls' dorm and held the knob in her hand.

Lana Gwen turned the knob...

She pushed open the door...

And she saw her.

Hermione laying on her bed, her hair splayed out and crowning her face, her face turned a deathly white by the moon shining into her window. Lana fell to her knees, suddenly feeling very old. The lust was stolen by the beauty. She didn't want to move; didn't want to touch her queen. She just wanted to stay and stare.

* * *

"What am I doing here?" Ginny asked herself as she sat cross legged on the floor. 

She shivered. It was dark and cold and impossibly empty there. Not a voice, no reply for the exception of her own voice echoing back at her. Then suddenly-

Light. Bright, glaring light in front of her. She went to move her hands in front of her face, but they wouldn't move.

"What the-" she started angrily, but quickly shut her mouth.

The light in front of her showed images. Or an image.

It showed Hermione Granger laying on her bed, in a pool of blood her own blood.

Ginny screamed and screamed. "NO!" she sobbed out, wanting to run to her best friend, wanting to hold her one last time. But however hard she tried to move, she stayed frozen on the cold, dark floor.

Soon she became aware ofa dark chuckling behind her. "Who is it?" she asked, her heart beating wildly.

"Bad things are going to happen to you, Ginny."

"Wha-"

The darkness seemed to push into her brain, making it seem like it was going to implode. Dizziness was messing up her thoughts, but she still pushed for answers.

"'Ermione… No… why.."

The image on the screen changed. Ginny was being shoved into an Azkaban cell. It changed again. Her family were being turned away at Hermione's funeral. It changed a last time. It showed an image so horrific, so twisted and wrong, Ginny wanted to vomit on the floor. Harry Potter held a wand to her head, dark marks hovering literally _everywhere_ behind him, a white mask in his hand and people fighting behind him. Blood and screams erupted suddenly, and the picture began to move.

"You ruined my life," the death eater Harry whispered, a tear escaping from his glinting, cat like eyes…

He motioned to the battle raging behind him. "It's your fault." Then he shook away his sleeve and showed her his dark mark.

"I-I don't understand," the other Ginny whispered shakily.

"You will," he whispered back.

Then he brought up his wand to his head.

"_Avada_-"

"No," the real Ginny moaned.

"_Kedavra."_

"No!" both Ginnys screamed.

A flash of bright green light enveloped the death eater Harry, and he slumped to the ground.

His eyes remained open, reflecting the chaos of death all around him.

* * *

**A/N: As you can see from the above date I put up, I've began this back in April after I finished chapter ten. I just got around to finishing it up today. I'm happy with the way it turned out ;) Thanks for all the reviews, they push me to update sooner. I know this is sort of a cliffhanger, but that's the good thing about being an author. You can give other people the cliffhangers you regularly get. And, oh, aren't _they _fun :P Since school's ending I should definitely be updating more regularly. Again, as I have said with Shards of a Diamond, I will _not_ be abandoning this fic. I may update late, but I will _never ever_ abandon it. Besides... This story is almost complete :D waits for the angry cliffhanger reviewers Heee!**


	12. Use Your Eyes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do, however, own this story. Steal and I shall kill you until you _die! _Heehee. And yes, I am aware that that last statement made _no sense_.**

**Hazardous Sanity**

_**By Emerald Riddle on 6/05**_

**_Dedicated To Sarah, because I know you want to kill me right now._**

**Chapter Twelve: Using Your Eyes**

_Keep the mask aligned_

_Get it up in time_

_There's a space between valleys_

_and try and catch a vibe _

_Make a circle square, a rectangle curve _

_Use a smile as a noun and I think like a verb _

_Run quick switch sides _

_The Used_

* * *

Just as Ginny came into the unrelenting darkness, she was released. Everything seemed to shatter as she fell, and fell, _and fell_… Her screams of horror and anguish, her screams at Tom Riddle, at Voldemort, echoed and reverberated… She hoped that her screams would haunt him eternally. It was a thought that didn't earn as much satisfaction as she thought it would.

Thoughts… What were thoughts? In the swirling vortex of blackness she was floating in, fast then slow, did thoughts exist? Ginevra was thrown to and fro, her stomach objecting strongly to the treatment it was being subjected to. As Ginny was beginning to wonder if she was to dwell eternally in the circular flowing doom … it stopped and she dropped quite suddenly.

Soon she fell onto a hard surface; a very _real_ surface.

Her feelings were conflicted. She was happy to be back in a form of reality, but at least in the darkness she needn't face it. She just floated and jerked around… not making any conscience decisions of her own.

She looked at her surroundings. From what she could see, and from her dizziness she could see very little, she was in a room of some kind. With a carpet, presumably.

_Oh, how very specific, Ginny thought to herself sarcastically, trying to distract her stomach from heaving up… Heaving up what? Had she eaten today at all?_

_No._

Instead of _heaving up, _her stomach gave a hungry growl. She was starving, and decided to concentrate on that. She was afraid of what lay before her.

_**"I would watch where I step, weasel. There are potholes everywhere. Some are right in your face and you don't even know it."**_

_I do know it, Malfoy. I just wish I didn't._

There was a sound of someone scrambling on metal, and then cursing violently. It seemed that somebody was trying to get up the staircase, a male most likely, and repeatedly failing. It was if it was happening in another lifetime, the soft string of curses and the sounds of footsteps and nails against metal. Her breath hitched in fear, for she knew she _should _move, she _could _move, but she was _afraid _to move. She was afraid to see what her counterpart murderer has done.

But the smell of death, a smell she knew well by now, was _not_ in the air. Though the acidic smell of _blood_ lingered in her nostrils.

Not daring to look at the bed she was sitting near, Ginny got up and walked out of the seventh year girls' dorm.

_**Look back, look back. Ginny you have GOT to look back. **_

_No, Ginny thought, almost choking on a dry sob. I don't need to see what I have done, for I am already trying to live with it. _

_**You'll never know if you DON'T LOOK!**_

_I will know. I saw the future already; I know what is in store for me. A lifetime in Azkaban and watching my friends die… The less horror I see, the more convenient for me._

The other voice's protests slowly died away as she walked toward the staircase. A pair of gleaming green eyes looked up at her and she wheeled.

**_A flash of bright green light enveloped the death eater Harry, and he slumped to the ground._**

_**His eyes remained open, reflecting the chaos of death all around him.**_

"_**Oh, God…" Ginny moaned, her stomach hurtling to the ground. Could she trust Harry after what she has Seen? Was he just another Dark Lord on the verge of emergence? **_

"Ginny," the voice called up. It was rough and unsteady. "What have you _done?"_

This time, Ginny _did _choke on a dry sob.

"You _have _to let me up Ginny, please!"

_Should I trust him?_

_**No.**_

_**Ginny looked into the bright green eyes.**_

_**Yes.**_

'_**Wait a sec…" Ginny was not sure of what she was doing but-**_

"_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

Harry looked startled as he began to levitate higher and higher until he landed at the top of the stair case with a light _thump._

He rushed over to Ginny instantly. She held her wand in her hand tensely. They stared at each other for a few moments before he spoke again. "Oh God… Ginny… What have you done?"

A slight pang of irritation mixed with guilt hit her over the head. 'I didn't _mean _to, Harry! I didn't _want _to! Please, understand me! It was-"

A sudden realization dawned on Harry. "Lana."

Ginny felt a ray of hope. She may be able to fix this yet. _Well, _she thought sadly, glancing over her shoulder to the seventh year girls' dorm, _most of it._

Harry's demeanor changed instantly. "Are you all right? Gin, we _have_ to go to the hospital wing!"

Ginny felt a wave of weakness engulf her. She was so… tired. "But why, Harry?" she asked, near tears. "There's no way she's still alive…"

Harry looked at her incredulously. "What _are _you talking about, Ginny? Look at your hands!"

Ginny, who was still lost, glanced down at her hands. She nearly passed out from the sight. Blood, still very fresh, trailed down her hands and dripped off of her fingers.

"Oh, my Lord."

_This blood… Hermione's blood. On my arms, my hands, my fingertips. Oh, my God. Her blood flows on my skin as if it were my own._

The thoughts, so poetic and tragic, made tears sting her eyes.

_How had I not noticed this before?_

"Harry, what are _you _talking about?" Ginny sobbed, afraid to wipe away the tears with her bloody hands. "She's dead! Hermione's dead and this blood is the proof of it! The proof of my red handed guilt! My disgusting betrayal!"

Harry seemed to be confused for a moment. Then his expression formed into one of shock, then of sadness… then finally anger. Which Ginny was dreading.

"**_Use your eyes, _**Ginny! Look at your hands and tell me what you see!"

Though she looked down, she saw nothing different. Just the same, tragic ending she fought so hard to stop.

"Don't you see, Ginny? Don't you see what Lana has done? She has not killed Hermione, she's killed _you." _

Ginny glanced down again and noticed something. The blood was trailing, yes, and it _shouldn't be trailing._ If it was Hermione's blood, wouldn't it have dried by now?

_So if it's not Hermione's then… A sharp pain traveled up Ginevra's arm, bringing her to her knees. It's mine. She turned her arm over, and surely enough, the wrist was cut down almost to the bone and a long gash trailed up each underside of her arm._

It was like everything was shoved upside down.

Harry watched her. "Then… this means that Lana Gwen… was on our side? She killed herself, you, to save Hermione. Maybe even the wizarding world…" He seemed puzzled. "I thought it was you…"

The world was fading very quickly, and Ginny had just enough energy to ask "What?" and listen.

"She had to kill Hermione, but she didn't wan to do it… Ah. I understand now! She tricked Voldemort-"

"Harry…"

Harry looked down at her weakening form.

"Oh, My God! I'm so sorry," he said quickly and Ginny heard no more.

"I had thought you were finally listening to sense, Lana," the Dark Lord growled. "But apparently I was wrong.

The world was fading beneath their feet, as Ginny's mind and soul slowly drifted away.

* * *

"They will pay for your wrongdoings, I swear to you."

Lana Gwen shifted on her weakening knees, the strength she once had so much of failing her.

"You spilt your pure blood on that, that vile creature! That mudblood filth! I have to admit, you tricked me for a short while."

Lana fell to her knees, feeling drowsy and very, very heavy. She barely heard his next words.

"But you had to know it wouldn't last."

Then his voice was gone, and Lana Gwen found herself feeling twisted and wrong. As if she was being shoved into a space too small for her size. She was being morphed, squished, and lengthened, until she was snapped apart and she saw Ginny. They stared at each other for a moment.

"I don't know whether to love or hate you," Ginny said.

"You love me, you hate me, you _are_ me. So do neither. I don't exist, not really," Lana replied.

Then Lana held out her hand, and Ginny took it. Soon the hand became one, and soon did their bodies. Their minds blended and each felt complete again. But the darkness overwhelmed the overused mind and body, and unconsciousness took over.

Her body felt impossibly heavy. Even though she tried, she could barely move her eyelids. Ginny hovered somewhere between life and death. A thin, fragile line ready to snap at a moment's notice. Sometimes she slept calmly, others she was awake but not coherent enough to speak. It was weakness. The weakness of imminent death.

When she passed out she was very near death, but now she seemed to become stronger… Was it minutes or weeks when she first found the blood on her arms? Time didn't exist. It was only pain, horrendous pain and waiting… waiting… Was she to die or was she to live?

Ginevra waited in the dark once more.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I know, this was quite short. But this chapter took a lot out of me and it said all I really wanted it to say. The next chappie should be longer, and it shouldn't take too long to finish either. I hope that you all enjoyed this and remember! Reviews feed my muse .**


	13. The Void Between Life And Death

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Hazardous Sanity**

**_By Emerald Riddle on 7/05_**

**Chapter Thirteen: The Void Between Life And Death**

_The sword of time will pierce our skins,_

_It doesn't hurt when it begins,_

_But as it works its way on in,_

_The pain grows stronger..._

_Watch it grin, but..._

_Suicide is painless,_

_It brings on many changes,_

_And I can take or leave it if I please…_

Suicide Is Painless by Marilyn Manson

* * *

_The pain drowns me. Kills me. Or am I already dead? I never thought dying would hurt this much, but it does… and now I am not sure if any of it is even real. Thoughts, unspoken, unleading to any real trail of succession of completion. I lose each thread like fragile spider webs and they sound so howling and poetic it brings tears to my eyes. Am I this intelligent? Or is it just madness?_

_I feel Lana, touching me, feeding on me, being me. She was me once, I admit. But Voldemort has changed her into something unlike me. Perhaps it is she who holds my few thoughts and weaves them into poetry, so they are easier to complete. Or perhaps… it is her who is the lead weight; pulling me down in the rivers of pain until my lungs plead mercy… _

_I don't know anymore. I just wish it would end._

**--.--.--**

_Oh, the pain!_

_Oh, the agony!_

_Why is dying this hard to finish? I want to die! I want to end this suffering!_

Ginevra floated, feeling torn between one place and another. Reality and mentality. Life and death. Love and hate. Such thin lines, so easy to cross and smear.

Lana was Ginny. Ginny was Lana. Ginny loved her, because she _was_ her. Ginny hated her for the same reason.

_Evil, I'm evil._

Then the thought would float away as pain slowly drove Ginny to madness. Lana was a part of her, but she seemed alien. One soul, one body, two minds. It didn't fit.

_I love you… They will pay for your… What am I doing here?… Pain… She's you… I'm you… No… We're one… We're two… _

_**Which thoughts are mine?**_

_Use your eyes… Ginny… We're two… From your loving brothers, Forge and Gred… Gred and Forge… HOW-DARE-YOU!… _

_**Which are yours?**_

_Oh God, no… You ruined my life… _

_**Are they even real?**_

_Everything's falling apart …_

And it did.

Everything in the delicate reality shattered.

**--.--.--**

Ginny was tossed into a silence so loud it buzzed her ears, and then she heard each small crack of the dark shadows restricting her. It hurt, it hurt so goddamned _much. _But then it was black, and Ginny felt no more.

Something was different. The air was less thick and easier to breathe. There was warmth on her skin. There was an orange light on the inside of her closed eyelids.

_Light. It's sunlight._

Ginny still felt weak. Way too weak to move, even open her eyes. Or maybe she was just too tired and refused to. She fell back into an uneasy, confused sleep.

**--.--.--**

There were hands on her. Two small, petite hands. They were gentle and warm and caressed her fingers. It was so comforting that Ginevra thought she must be dead and with angels. But that made no sense. Why would she be with angels? Why wasn't she burning in Hell? Then there was a voice.

"Ginny?"

Ginny's ears perked up at her name, but she couldn't find the strength to reply. The voice sounded sad, resigned somehow.

"Ginny, I'm sorry," the voice whispered in a choked sort of voice.

It was a girl. But who was it? She sounded familiar, and Ginny knew she was supposed to remember her, but she didn't.

"I shouldn't have-I should have-" The girl's voice trembled and she sobbed.

"I should not have gotten mad at you, I should have helped you, I should have-I should have-" She sobbed again and Ginny felt the coolness of tears hit her hand.

The girl seemed to inhale unsteadily. "I was jealous, Gin. I was _jealous_. I didn't mean to scream at you, but I thought that-I thought that we-"

The cut off sentences were bothering Ginny. Why didn't the girl just tell her why she was so sorry? Who was she, anyway? _What did she scream at me about?_ Ginny wondered.

"I-I'm sor-I lo- Thank you."

Then there was a feel of cool lips on her forehead, and something bushy touching her face, and Ginny knew who it was.

_Hermione, _she wanted to scream. _Hermione, come back! Please, please, please come back! What were you going to say? Tell me, please!_

But there was an echo of footsteps and a sound of the door shutting. Ginny was alone again. If she had the strength, she would have cried.

**--.--.--**

The hours went by quickly and she mostly slept through them. Sometimes somebody was with her, but she could never summon the strength or will power to remember who they were. She was being lazy and she knew this. If Hermione came back, she never noticed.

A door opened in the distance and Ginny, somewhere in the back of her mind, heard it.

"Albus, you should know better than to disturb a patient while they're resting!" A snippy voice from Ginevra's left scolded.

The reply was one of a tired, old man. "Yes, yes, I know Poppy. But hasn't Miss. Weasley been resting long enough? It's been days. Perhaps it would be better if you woke her."

Poppy sounded scandalized. "Headmaster! You know very well I can't do that! She has been through a lot of emotional and physical trauma!"

"It would be best if you woke her, Poppy. I need to have some things straightened out, and I think she would like some explanations. No doubt she is still in a lot of pain. From what Voldemort has done to her mind, I am not surprised."

Poppy was silent.

"She may be a victim of insanity if we cannot get through to her," he urged.

She sighed. "Oh, very well then."

A hand, gentle yet firm, held Ginny's shoulder and shook it lightly. Ginny knew she was awake but she had no strength left in her. The hand shook her again then a spell was whispered. "_Ennervate."_

Ginny's eyes popped open. Madam Promfrey seemed thoughtful. "Have you any power to move? Blink once for no, two for yes." Ginny pooled all of her concentration on blinking once slowly.

The med witch bit her lip and went over to the potions cabinet. She pulled out a small vile. The liquid looked like silver colored water and tasted vaguely of fish. But the strange taste was worth it, for Ginevra found that she again had power over her limbs. She opened her mouth experimentally and coughed. Her throat was very dry. She was given a glass of water and the Headmaster sat at her bedside.

"Now Ms. Weasley, I have some questions for you."

Ginny nodded, knowing a lot of explaining was in order.

She just hoped that some of her questions could be answered too.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, I know this was supposed to be longer, but this is all my mind permitted. I didn't want to keep you guys waiting very long for a chapter and I'm still working on the update for Shards. A few loose ends are going to be tied in the next few chappies, and more of Draco probably. I would like to know what you think of his character so far. And, as always, reviews feed my muse and make me update faster ;)**


	14. Questions And Answers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Meh.**

**Hazardous Sanity**

**Chapter Fourteen: Questions And Answers**

_Gaze into her killing jar I'd sometimes stare for hours.  
She even poked the holes so I can breathe.  
She bought the last line.  
I'm just the worst kind.  
Of guy to argue.  
With what you might find.  
And for the last night I lie.  
Could I lie with you?_

The JetSet Life Is Gonna Kill You by My Chemical Romance

**--..--..--**

Dumbledore smiled at her gently. His eyes were not twinkling. "Ms. Weasley, perhaps you can tell me the story from the very beginning?"

Ginny inhaled deeply and nodded. "You see, sir, it all started with Parvati Patil showing off her new bracelet…" She continued on, describing the jealousy and anger that had pounded in her veins. When she got to her first dreamless- yet terrifying- night, the Headmaster stopped her.

"So it was your fury and envy that renewed the connection… Go on."

Ginny continued on, detailing the rage that followed her and never seemed to waver. The guiltless stealing and lying. She spoke about the continuous dreamless nights and when she heard of the murders from the Headmaster's speech, she flinched when she heard the name "Lana Gwen". She told him about the nights she woke up screaming.

Ginny recalled waking up to shrieks of horror from her dorm mates and seeing Amber Rodger's body. She recalled thinking about Fred without George and shuddering. She remembered her ex-girlfriend dying and telling Hermione she was gay. She remembered Harry, looking so depressed and so small.

All the while she talked the Headmaster nodded and seemed deep in thought. Sometimes he gave her an encouraging smile, sometimes he didn't. It really didn't matter anyway. Ginny was just glad to be able to finally get it out to someone.

Ginevra finally got to the part of her strange, but real, dream and Dumbledore was looking, if possible, even fiercer with interest. She could imagine the wheels turning in his great mind and she felt the need to tell him every detail of every event- with the exception of sex with George and Parvati. Ginny couldn't bring herself to tell him that after the difficulty of telling him her sexual preference.

She told him of Harry. How Harry knew all that was going on and told her things that even she hadn't realized. When Harry came up, so did the Headmaster's head so quickly she was surprised it hadn't fell from his elderly shoulders.

"Then Hermione attacked Pansy Parkinson for insulting me and threatening Harry and Snape took her away…"

"Yes, yes," the Headmaster said, not unkindly. "I remember that day with Ms. Granger."

Ginny nodded and continued. She related to him the discussions soon after, along with her brother's suicide and running in the corridors after having a row with Hermione. Which wasn't much of a lie, really.

"… and Pansy tripped me in the hall and began threatening me…"

Ginny then told him about Draco Malfoy showing up and explained in detail every single word he said. She didn't like Malfoy. She didn't trust him. But she continued on with the boring and stressful day until she fell asleep in her own dorm room (which was now fit for human habitation).

"Then," Ginevra said in a soft voice, shuddering softly, "I was in the dark."

"The dark?" Dumbledore inquired in an equally soft voice. It was soothing and consoling.

"Yes…" she whispered. "I was in the dark. Then I wasn't. There was a screen in front of me and I couldn't move. It showed me… horrible things."

"What kinds of things, Ginny?"

She hadn't even registered the use of her first name. Her eyes were glazed over in remembrance of the terrifying moment.

"It was Hermione, lying in a pool of blood. Then… a voice came up behind me and told me… bad things were going to happen to me."

The room was buzzing in silence until she next spoke.

"More pictures came. Fast, but not too fast. I saw myself being chucked into an Azkaban cell. I saw my family being scorned at Hermione's funeral and being turned away. Then I saw…"

Dumbledore, for the first time in their meeting, sounded urgent. "What did you see, Ms. Weasley?"

Ginny shuddered with a sob. She hadn't realized she was crying. "I saw Harry."

"He had his wand to my head. There were dark marks _everywhere_ behind him. There was blood and death and silent screams…" Ginny sobbed again, willing herself not to throw up.

"And then what happened, Ms. Weasley?" Dumbledore prompted, sounding now more urgent than ever.

Ginny's eyes opened wide. "And then the picture moved."

"Harry had a white mask in his hand and I watched it before the picture blew up."

"Blew up?"

"The screams and blood blew up from the picture. Blood was raining down everywhere and people were screaming and yelling and _laughing_ and crying. They were fighting. Harry spoke to me. He was holding a wand to my head and _speaking to me."_

"He said that I ruined his life. A tear fell from his eye. His eyes… They were like a cat's eyes. They looked almost normal except for the shape and… they shone red. He said- he said that it was my fault and that I would understand. Then he- he put his wand his head and-" Ginny let out a strange, cat like sound. It was sad, almost unearthly.

"He- he killed himself!"

Then Ginny broke down completely.

_I never used to cry. Before this I was so much stronger…_

As if hearing her thoughts, Dumbledore said "War weakens us in some places, but strengthens us in others. Some people find that they are stronger than they themselves have ever guessed."

Ginny knew she had to continue. She had no other choice. She took a deep breath.

"All right. Then everything broke apart. It felt like I was falling and being spun and pulled and pushed… Then I fell into reality, I guess."

Ginny was suddenly feeling very exhausted.

"I was in a carpeted room. I didn't need to look around to know I was in Hermione's dorm room. I was afraid, Headmaster. I was so _afraid _to look around… So I got up and left without turning back. There was somebody trying to get up the girl's tower, but kept falling down the slide. It was Harry."

"I surmised as much," he said, encouraging her to continue.

"Well, he asked me to levitate him up and I did. Then…" Ginny cast her thoughts back but nothing came up. "I don't remember," she announced, feeling slightly panic-stricken.

Dumbledore sighed. "I thought that that might be the case. When Harry brought you to the Hospital Wing, he filled us in however."

Ginny waited.

"In short, it seems that you- or Lana- cut themselves on their arms creating deep gashes of the deadly sort. They then continued to stun Hermione Granger while she slept and let the blood pour all over her, creating the illusion that she died silently in the middle of the night in her bed."

"I believe Lana has done this to trick Lord Voldemort into thinking she has killed Ms. Granger when she has merely spilt her blood on her. It was a short distraction. She has succeeded in pushing him out of your mind and saving one of your best friends in the process."

Ginny was confused and shocked. "How did Lana push him from my mind?"

"When you were at the point of near death, Voldemort felt it and fled. If he would have stayed and you would have died… he could have lost his mind. He would have been a shell of his former self with no brain control what-so-ever."

"So it's… over?" Ginny asked, hardly daring to hope.

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "It is never over, not even now. Voldemort may be gone from your mind, but Lana isn't. She was, as Harry said, yours all along. But she is so mutated and contorted by Voldemort that she simply doesn't fit in your body anymore. We're currently trying to find a way to reverse the effects…"

Ginny swallowed. "I'll go mad, won't I?"

He looked her in the eye. "If we do not find what we need to help you, then yes, Ms. Weasley, you will."

Ginny, who wasn't expecting such a straight forward answer, started.

"Why did he choose me?" she asked him in sorrow.

"Because you, Ms. Weasley, have been hiding a part of you that was uncovered by Lord Voldemort some time ago. He already had a weak connection with you from the diary, he decided to use it." The Headmaster looked apologetic. "It is my theory that he used you as an experiment."

Ginny replied thickly. "…Experiment?"

He nodded and continued. "He wanted to see how he was able to possess someone with a weak, but definite connection. He wasn't supposed to go this far with you at all. He was supposed to leave you to die or go insane, but his plan worked too well. It was a good opportunity. But now he failed and I fear he will go back to his original plan now that he has the information he needs."

"What original plans?" Ginny asked, trying to get over the fact that she was used by one of the darkest wizards of all time.

"To use Harry Potter instead."

They stared at each other for a few moments, Ginny's heart beating wildly.

_**He motioned to the battle raging behind him. "It's your fault." Then he shook away his sleeve and showed her his dark mark.**_

"_**I-I don't understand," the other Ginny whispered shakily.**_

"_**You will," he whispered back.**_

The door to the infirmary burst open and Hermione ran in with Ron at her heals. There were tears in her eyes and Ron looked white.

"Headmaster," she screamed desperately. "Harry's gone missing!"

Dumbledore got up, his light blue robes swirling around his thin body. "What?" he asked loudly.

"Harry," Ron panted. "This morning when I woke up he wasn't in his bed. We've looked _everywhere_ but we can't find him. Then I found this under his pillow." He brandished a note in the Headmaster's direction.

Dumbledore took it and his eyes zoomed over the lines quickly. "Oh, Harry…" he sighed, sounding old and defeated.

"What?" Ginny asked, a feeling of foreboding overwhelming her.

He looked at her. "He's left the school."

"_**You will," he whispered back.**_

**

* * *

A/N: Ah, I was supposed to finish writing this a few days ago, but I've been way to tired to be coherent regulary, it seems ;) I hope you like the cliffie! -cackles evilly- New update soon, but first I need to start the new chapter for S.o.a.D. Also, if you have any questions you want answered in this fic before it ends, now's the time to do it! Ask in a review, and I'll try to answer it in the next chapter, or the one after that if necessary. Now, as always, reviews feed my muse and make me update faster! . And sorry about the no Draco in this chapter, I was going to add him at the end, but that would ruin the dramatic ending I had -lol-**

****


	15. Missing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Though, I wish I had some gummy bears.**

**Hazardous Sanity**

**8/05**

**Chapter Fifteen: Missing**

_Lying all alone and restless_

_Unable to lose this image_

_Sleepless, unable to focus on_

_Anything but your surrender…_

Thinking of You by A Perfect Circle

**--..--..--**

Harry Potter was missing.

It was all Ginny could think about. He was missing. Gone. But why? Why did he leave? Dumbledore apparently knew, but he seemed reluctant to reveal anymore information than they already knew. He had taken the letter with him when he left the Hospital Wing and they haven't seen him since.

Hermione was forced to explain the whole situation to Ron, even the parts about Ginny being gay. Ginny wasn't sure if that was necessary, but she knew Hermione was just trying to help. Right now they all sat in the common room around the fire place. It was a week since Harry left and Ginny forced herself out of the Hospital Wing. Madam Promfrey was furious, of course.

Over and over again, had Ron explained what he remembered from reading the letter. Over and over again had somebody walked into the common room and they were disappointed that it was not Harry. Over and over again… had the owls at breakfast swooped into view but none of them from Harry. Over and over again… had they wanted to see the Headmaster but he wasn't there.

The letter said that Harry had to go to keep them safe. It said it was the only way he can assure he didn't do anything stupid. He had to leave.

That was all it said.

Ginny slammed her hand on one of the tables in the common room. Where was he? Why didn't he say? Was he off to find Voldemort? The hand that Ginny hit the table with suddenly started shooting sharp pains up her arm, but she ignored it.

_Where are you, Harry?_

Ignoring the looks Ron and Hermione were giving her, she went upstairs to her now empty dorm. She lay awake, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out why he left. Harry always knew so much that he didn't let on to, was this one of those things? Ginny felt her bed shift and looked over to see Hermione sitting on the edge of it.

"May I sleep here tonight?" she asked hesitantly.

Ginny nodded. It was becoming a sort of tradition that one of them sleep with the other when they couldn't sleep. Lately it was becoming more and more often. Sometimes she found herself holding the older girl closer to her, or being spooned and cuddled. It was sweet and nice and all… but it hurt her that it didn't mean anything in reality.

Hermione slid under the covers and tentatively moved close to Ginny and curled up at her side. Feeling her heart constrict painfully, she did the same.

Sleep came easier that night.

But so did the dreams.

**--..--..--**

"_Ginny."_

"_What?" Ginny snapped at the shadowed figure who was disturbing her rest._

"_I want to make up for what I did," the voice told her._

"_Good for you," Ginny spat at the girl angrily. "But isn't it a bit late for that, Lana Gwen?"_

_Lana bit her lip. "I know why Harry Potter has left. Will that help me redeem myself?"_

"_Not bloody likely," Ginny sneered before realizing what the other girl said. "Wait, you know where Harry is? Tell me!"_

"_I do not know where he is," she sighed. "I just know why he has left."_

"_Then tell me!" Ginny demanded._

_Lana Gwen sat on the floor, crossing her legs and motioning for Ginny to join her. Ginny did so with a huff of annoyance. _

"_Why did he leave?" she asked impatiently._

_The other girl looked deep in thought for a moment. "Do you remember what Albus Dumbledore spoke to you about in the Infirmary? He was saying that I, you, us, we were a mere experiment for larger things. For Harry Potter."_

"_Yes. Yes, I remember."_

"_Well," Lana continued, "now that he knows what to do and what not to do from using us (she winced slightly at those words), he can set out what he originally wanted to do. What he wanted to do before the idea of infiltrating Hogwarts was in the realm of possibility."_

"_What did he want to do?" Ginevra asked quietly._

_Lana Gwen smiled eerily. "He wanted to take over Harry Potter's body and extract the information he wanted from his mind. Then I think he would have done something irreparable to his brain. Brainwash him into joining the Dark Side or make him simply mad. He could have killed him as well, I suppose," she finished, looking thoughtful._

_Ginny's mouth was slightly agape. "But why-"_

"_Harry Potter knows things the Dark Lord does not, but wants to know. He knows why he defeated him as a child, he knows what the prophecy says, he knows things about the order some people could only dream of knowing."_

"_But I'm afraid that he knows too much. He also knows everything that has happened with us, Ginevra. He has been dreaming it since the very beginning."_

"_Harry knows all of that? But… that means-"_

"_Yes. He knows what the Dark Lord is planning to do-"_

"_So he left," Ginny finished in awe._

"_Yes," Lana nodded, "and if the Dark Lord hasn't gotten to him yet, physically or mentally, then he will soon."_

_**He motioned to the battle raging behind him. "It's your fault." Then he shook away his sleeve and showed her his dark mark.**_

"**I-I don't understand," the other Ginny whispered shakily.**

"**You will," he whispered back.**

"_Oh, God," Ginny moaned, burying her face in her hands as the memory resurfaced._

"_What can we do?"_

_Lana Gwen gave her another eerie smile and said, "Absolutely nothing."_

**--..--..--**

Ginny opened her eyes to sunlight. It was so unlike her feelings. Inside of her, it was a forever raging storm of two souls. Fighting over which reaction was which and which was real, memories that are and aren't hers getting mixed up and blurry, the constant bloated feeling that made her think she was bursting at the seams with another soul to share her body and brain with.

She was slowly going mad.

Hermione held her from behind, her arms protectively holding the other girl's back to her chest. Ginny sighed and woke up her friend to tell her what her latest dream revealed.

**--..--..--**

The common room was empty. Ron was staring blankly at the fire place while Ginny and Hermione filled him in. When they were done, he looked up and his eyes were hardened with a determined glint shining furiously in them.

"There has to be _something_ we can do."

Ginny and Hermione looked at each other worriedly. Ron looked desperate.

"There's nothing," Ginny said soothingly. "Harry will just have to get through this on his own, just like he usually does."

Ron flared up. "He _doesn't _usually do it himself!"

"Ron…" Hermione murmured, rubbing his arm consolingly. He yanked it away and stood up.

"He usually has help from someone! He's not _ready _for this, yet, Ginny!" he yelled, towering over her before going to pace in front of the fireplace.

"We have to get in contact with him," he muttered to himself.

"But, Ron," Hermione said reasonably, "there's no way the school owls will know how to find him."

"Yeah," Ginny agreed.

He went on walking as if he hadn't heard them. Then, quite suddenly, he stopped dead.

"Hedwig," he whispered.

"What?" the two girls asked at the same time. They glanced at each other and blushed.

"Hedwig. He left Hedwig here."

Ginny's heart was pounding. It was too easy… Too easy… They could have just owled him all of this time? It seemed almost impossible, but yet…

"Think about it," Ron went on ecastically. "Why else would Harry leave Hedwig here? He loves her! He brings her everywhere!"

"Ron…" Hermione whispered sadly. "Maybe he left Hedwig for the same reason he left us."

Ron blinked, deterred, but then he continued on walking and talking.

"Doesn't matter. We have a way to contact Harry now, to see if he's safe! Maybe he'll let it slip where he is and we can… We can save him."

"Ron," Hermione tried again. "Maybe it was the best thing that he left. Whoever's around him is in jeopardy now."

Ron's eyes flashed. "The best?" he asked, swooping down at Hermione and grinding his teeth in anger. "THE BEST THING? HOW IS THAT THE BEST THING, HERMIONE? HE'S IN MORE DANGER THAN ANY OF US CAN POSSIBLY BE IN! HE CAN HAVE HIS BRAIN WARPED, HE CAN TURN TO THE DARK SIDE! HE CAN **_DIE!"_**

_**A flash of bright green light enveloped the death eater Harry, and he slumped to the ground.**_

_**His eyes remained open, reflecting the chaos of death all around him.**_

Ginny shuddered and blinked.

"Ron's right, Hermione. We have to contact him. It's best if the Order deals with him, not when he's left to his own devices. All alone."

Hermione suddenly burst into tears. "I didn't mean that-I was just trying to make a point-I don't want Harry to be alone! I don't want him to die! I just don't want him hurting people that he'll regret later, including one of you!"

Ginny went over to her and shot Ron a glare. "We know that, Hermione. We're all just a bit… out of sorts, you know? We'll owl Harry and decide what to do when he replies, okay. Shush," she said, smoothing her hands over Hermione's hair, "don't cry."

Ron fell back into his seat and swept a hand through his own hair. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Hermione. I just… I just don't want him to get hurt."

"None of us do. Now go get Hedwig, Ron. We have a letter to write," Ginny told him in a business like way. Ron nodded and went up to his dorm.

Ginny continued consoling Hermione, wondering who was going to reply to the letter they wrote- Harry… or somebody else?

* * *

**A/N: Hey all! Sorry for the late update. I've been a bit busy with some different stories, including Shards Of A Diamond. I hope this chapter helps clear a bit more up, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask! I've decided the story will go on to chapter twenty, then I'll probably put in an Epilogue. After that a new story starts! Most likely it will be this Dark!Harry fic I plotted out all in one night ;D No Draco here... He didn't fit. He will be coming more, though, I promise.**

**Necrovore: Thank you!**

**Bleu Munkehs' in dar shey: Thanks! Heehee, I've always wanted to be a goddess ;D**

**Raven-Fieryblack: Oh, dear, I hope you're feeling better now! More updates are coming soon, since I've blasted through my writers block once again . Really? I'm your favorite author? -squees madly- I think they have somedownloads here for Open Office or something of that nature, if you'd be willing to try it. I would love to see something from you! ;)**

**Faye: Thank you! I'm glad you think so!**

**GoodyBad: Thanks, hun! I'm glad you liked it. You've been such an awesome reviewer these past few months, I always look foward to them . Sorry I've made you sad, though, I can help but feel slightly accomplished over it... Heehee... -sheepish-**

**Next Chapter: Letters**

**_Ginny, Ron, and Hermione write a letter to Harry and send it to him through Hedwig. But who will reply? The Harry they know and love... or somebody else? Will there even _be_ a reply?_**

**Reviews feed my muse and make me update faster .**


	16. Letters

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Bugger. **

**Hazardous Sanity**

**Chapter Sixteen: Letters**

_30 minutes, a blink of an eye_

_30 minutes, to alter our lives_

_30 minutes, to make up my mind_

_30 minutes, to finally decide_

_30 minutes, to whisper your name_

_30 minutes, to shoulder the blame_

_30 minutes, of bliss, thirty lies_

_30 minutes, to finally decide_

Thirty Minutes by T.A.T.U.

**--..--..--**

They had a chance, and they were going to take it. Hermione held a quill erect over a piece of parchment. She was staring down at it, poised to write at a seconds notice while Ron and Ginny argued over what to say.

"Tell him we love him!" Ginny yelled at Hermione, her fist raised at Ron.

_Dearest Harry, Hermione wrote._

"Ask him why he didn't tell us why he left!" he screamed at her, an ugly look on his face as he and Ginny circled each other.

_We've missed you so, Hermione wrote._

"Tell him we understand!" Ginny's voice erupted, trying to outdo Ron's heavy bellow.

_We hope you are all right and we just wanted to tell you that we're here for you, Hermione wrote._

"Tell him we're coming to find him!" Ron's voice told her.

_We know why you have left, and we are disappointed that you didn't tell us anything. The Order can help you, Harry, we can help you. Please, we just want to know if you are all right. We know you don't want to tell us where you are, and we won't force you. We just want to help. Think about that Harry, and please reply soon._

The loud voices went on as Hermione wrote what she deemed best and ignored the other two entirely.

_Love Always,_

_Hermione_

"Done," she told them, stopping the siblings mid-scream. They walked over to read it, confused and guilty looks on their faces.

Holding the parchment, they read over it in concentration.

"Bloody brilliant," Ron said, beaming.

"Just what we wanted," Ginny agreed.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

They signed their names at the bottom and gave it back to Hermione, who sealed and addressed it to "Harry Potter". Hedwig was waiting for them near the window.

"This is for Harry, Hedwig. Do you think you can find him for us?" she asked the snowy white owl.

Hedwig hooted an affirmative and held out her leg. Hermione attached the letter to it and opened the window. The three watched as their only connection to their friend vanished in the sky.

It was three days until they received a reply.

**--..--..--**

It was breakfast as the usual herd of owls swooped in. The whole student body watched as the snowy owl flew among them. The trio had a reply. They finally had their reply! But Ginny knew something was wrong the moment Hedwig landed on the table. Hedwig stumbled over the plates of food and when Hermione reached to help her and take off the letter, she squawked loudly and jumped out of reach. Her wings were flapping haphazardly and feathers were fluttering everywhere.

Ginny chanced a glance around and saw Draco Malfoy giving her a gloating look from the Slytherin table.

Harry was in trouble.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of struggle, Ron stupefied Hedwig and detached the letter. They all ran out of the hall, getting weird looks from the other students. Ron had Hedwig under his arm, and he told them to run to the room of requirement while he let her out. No doubt all of the students and teachers wanted to know why Harry Potter's owl had come when he had been missing for almost two weeks now.

Ron took Hedwig outside, revived her, and ran off. He ran faster than he ever had, avoiding students and freezing hexes to his best ability. They had a letter from Harry. He had to do this for Harry. He came upon the room of requirement and burst in.

Hermione and Ginny held the letter between them.

They were locked in a kiss.

The two broke apart, blushes gracing both of their cheeks. It wasn't hard for Ron to push aside the almost numbing pain and shock enveloping him. They had no time. The students were in an outrage, the teachers all looking for them. If they had any lead on Harry, they had to find out about it _now _and_ fast._ Before either of them could speak, Ron broke in.

"Listen, I don't know what the bloody hell has just happened between you two in the last, what? Fifteen, twenty minutes? And frankly now I don't really care. So save it for when it matters, because it's obvious Harry's in trouble and he needs us."

Hermione and Ginny blinked at Ron. He could really take control when he wanted to. It couldn't have been easy, seeing his baby sister and secret girlfriend kissing in a deserted room.

"Sit down, we have some reading to do and a boy with a hero-complex to save," he added with an attempt to smile. He failed miserably, but the girls grabbed the distraction all the same and smiled back.

Ginny, who now had possession of the letter, unrolled it and began to read aloud. For such a long piece of parchment, it didn't say much.

_The Shrieking Shack. Eight o'clock. I can only meet you for a minute, though, so don't tell anyone where I am. I can't have anybody else getting mixed up in this. I'm fine._

_With much love,_

_Harry_

The letter didn't sound right to their ears or eyes, but none of them could say for certain why that was. Looking at Hermione, Ginny'd say she had a few theories, but she was reluctant to voice them. Which was fine with Ginny because, frankly, she was happier not hearing them. Ron seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"I can't believe it was that easy," was all Hermione said, and the two loved her even more for it.

**--..--..--**

After a few hours, the silence didn't last long, however.

"We can't just stay here all day," Hermione told them, pacing just like Ron was a few days ago in the Gryffindor common room.

"And why is that?" Ginny asked snappishly. The pacing was annoying her.

"Because!" Hermione erupted. "Because the whole school is looking for us! Because all of the teachers are worried about Harry as well! Because there are people who want this letter that _don't _have his best interests at heart, and it's not bloody Snape!" Hermione added at Ron in a screech, as he opened his mouth to say something.

"I wasn't going to say it was Snape," Ron told her while wearing a look that said he very well thought it, though. But Hermione kept on.

"Because the Headmaster knows about this room, and he'll know this is where we would go to hide, and he_ knows_ we would go out to find Harry without telling any of the adults first as well as try to contact him!"

"Hermione," Ginny said as her friend began to calm down, "The headmaster isn't here, and even if he was, maybe it would be a good thing that he'd know."

"I used to think that as well," she said softly, sitting back down on the sofa. "Throughout all my years at Hogwarts, with Harry, with Ron, I used to always say that. But more times than not, it hasn't escaped my attention that sometimes keeping things under wraps was the best answer. Not all the time, mind you," she said to a smug Ron, "but a lot of it."

Ginny only half wanted to challenge Hermione on this. It was past lunch, and they hadn't eaten since breakfast. She closed her eyes for a moment, wondering if something would work…

"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed. "Did you do that?"

She opened her eyes to see a jug of pumpkin juice, three goblets, and a rather large platter of sandwiches on a coffee table before them. They dug in happily, trying to file away the boredom and anticipation that was drilled into them since morning.

**--..--..--**

The minutes were ticking by slowly. Nobody had come to the room yet, which was no surprise, really. After Ron burst in they all agreed to will the door away so nobody came strolling in. It was seven o'clock. They had an half an hour until they needed to leave. Thirty minutes to really _think_ about their situation until they needed to go.

Ron was pale.

Hermione was biting her lip.

Ginny was trembling.

Leaving could alter their lives, it could kill them. It could kill Harry. They would get in trouble if they were caught. They could be expelled. But, worst of all, Harry could already be dead or brainwashed. But they all knew that no matter what, they were leaving that night.

"I can't take this anymore," Ginny bit out. She was fidgeting uncontrollably. She just wanted to get it over with. "Let's leave."

She was expecting, almost hoping, for some resistance, but she got none. Hermione looked at Ron, who looked at Hermione, and then they both nodded simultaneously.

They were leaving.

Ginny gulped and got up unsteadily from the couch she had been laying on.

If they left now they could walk at a fairly slow, more cautious pace instead of the full-out run they were expecting.

It was not comforting.

They had no invisibility cloak, no secret all-knowing map of Hogwarts.

They only had their wits, and hopefully, that would be enough to dodge the entire school and some of the best wizards and witches in the world.

Ginny gulped again, shared a look with Hermione and Ron, and then opened the door they had been hiding since after breakfast.

* * *

**A/N: Hey all! This chapter was written way more quickly than I had expected, only one or two days after the last, but decided to be annoying and not let me upload. >. Is that rumor about not being able to answer reviews in chapters true? Please, tell me! This crap is getting _very, very_ annoying. Also, I heard another rumor about songfics not being allowed either. That's just not right. I'm going to check up on it, but I'd like to hear your opinions and thoughts! **

**Sorry, I'm not going to be answering reviews anymore until I know if this rumor is true or not. I really don't think anybody would report me, but just the same, I'd rather not take the chance. I'll find another way if it turns out to be a real rule, I promise.**

**Chapter ten of Shards of a Diamond will be up next, then I will continue working on Hazardous Sanity some more.**

**Next Chapter: _Finding Harry (working title. May be changed to something less stupid and obvious later.)_**

**_Will Ron, Hermione, and Ginny be able to get through Hogwarts on their own? Will they be able to find Harry? Will Harry even be the same person? _**

**_Will I ever stop asking inane questions that only _I_ know the answer to? No, not really. It's fun ._**

**Remember, reviews feed my muse and make me update faster! ;)**


	17. Going After Harry

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. sobemosob**

**Hazardous Sanity**

**Chapter Seventeen: Going After Harry**

_**If heaven and hell decide, **_

_**That they both are satisfied, **_

_**Illuminate the No's **_

_**On their vacancy signs, **_

_**If there's no one beside you as your soul embarks, **_

_**I'll follow you into the dark. **_

_**I'll follow you into the dark.**_

_**-I'll Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab For Cutie**_

****

Ginny hesitantly closed the door softly behind her. Ron was ahead of them, his fiery hair already at the end of the corridor. She made to follow, but as she did, Hermione abruptly stopped and ran back towards the empty space of wall where the room of requirement could be found.

"I'll be right back," she whispered hurriedly, already walking past the wall a second time.

"Hermione, Ron is-"

A door appeared and Hermione ran into it, ignoring her friend's urgent whisper. The door slammed loudly and disappeared. Ginny winced at the sound and scanned her surroundings. Ron was nowhere to be seen, and there was a sound of footsteps, quick and with purpose coming from behind her.

_I have nowhere to hide! she thought, her head whipping around in search of a suitable hiding spot._

The footsteps stopped, and she knew she was in plain sight.

"Well, well, well…"

"Go away, Parkinson," Ginevra barked. She didn't even need to turn around to figure out where the pompous voice had come from.

"No, I don't think I will," Pansy replied and walked around to face Ginny.

"The whole school is looking for you. They say you have a letter from Potter, and all of wizarding Britain has been searching for him for _ages_ now. I wonder what the school will give me when I turn it in and save the day…" The Slytherin looked contemplative.

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Nothing, because there is no letter."

Pansy looked shocked for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "There is, and I bet you have it on you, too. Now the only choice I need to make is whether to bring you with me in bloody pieces or not. I'm sure no one would mind. Who cares about a dyke, anyway?" She asked softly, raising her hand and brushing the side of Ginny's cheek.

Ginny stepped back. Her face was glowing a bright pink. "Don't touch me, Parkinson."

Pansy's mouth twisted into a cruel grin. She stepped closer, brought up her hand again, and kept it uncomfortably close to Ginny's face before dropping it. "I know what you are, Weasley. I know what you've been infesting our school with your lust for smooth female flesh. You must be so happy, sharing a room with other girls… Oh wait, you killed them, didn't you?"

Pansy was walking around her now. They were close, almost touching. Ginny could feel Pansy's blond hair tickle her neck. It gave her goose bumps. How badly Ginny wanted to strike out and hit the other girl, but it would jeopardize everything. Hermione would never forgive her.

She would never forgive herself.

Suddenly there was a wand pointed at her face. Ginny tensed. Her hand tightened its grip around her own wand in her robe pocket.

"I guess this is the end of your little adventure. Hand over the letter if you don't want to be permanently injured," Pansy commanded.

Ginny could see the malice in those icy blue eyes. It made her shiver slightly. Her fingers curled around a piece of folded parchment, and her other hand kept its steady grip on her wand. She took out the parchment obediently and Pansy ripped it out of her grasp. The wand never moved from her face. Pansy giggled.

"Stupid, gullible Gryffindors… _Stup-_"

A voice called out _"Stupefy!" _from behind her and at the same moment that the red light hit her, a broom came crashing down on her head. Pansy hit the floor with a _"Thump!"_

Behind her was Hermione carrying three brooms. Two under her left arm and one still clutched in her right hand. Ginny looked around for the spell caster and saw someone she never would have expected.

"_Malfoy?" she exclaimed in confusion. "Why the hell-"_

Draco pushed past Hermione and grabbed Pansy, lifted her up to a standing position, then levitated her away. Ginny and Hermione watched him, astounded. Why was Draco Malfoy helping them? It made no sense! Hermione seemed to come to her senses first and awkwardly threw her leg over a broom. She was lifted a few inches so only her toes skimmed the marble floor.

Ginny blinked up at her, still shell-shocked.

"The castle has charms on it so students won't fly brooms inside of the corridors. They don't disable them completely in case of emergencies, but they are really weak," Hermione said as she handed Ginny one of the brooms. "I made the mistake of thinking of brooms when I really should have thought of _enchanted_ brooms. It took me quite a bit of trouble to find just one before realizing that I could just mentally request them."

"Hermione," Ginny said as she was lifted off of the ground.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Hermione glowered at her before they took off down the corridors. Besides not being able to pick them up very high, the speeds were pretty adequate for weak charms on the already usually slow and weak school brooms. They caught up with Ron coming back for them within minutes.

"We've only got half an hour now," he informed them grumpily and took off at the highest speed available.

There were children milling about. Younger students who wanted to explore the castle a bit before dinner. They exclaimed over the crazy older students riding brooms in the castle. Ginny thought she heard a few teachers call their names, but all she heard was a constant mantra in her head:

_Gotta get to Harry. Gotta get to Harry. Gotta get to Harry. _

As she held on to her broom, things began to unfocus. Her broom began to shake in a very unstable manner. Ginny's vision began to spin. Circles and blurs, the screams of students. They seemed so close, yet a minute later so far. Her grip became unnaturally tight and her legs clamped together in an effort to control whatever was happening. Her mouth filled with an acrid taste. She swallowed but the bile just rose up again.

_Take deep calming breaths. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down! What the hell is wrong with me?_

She was spinning. Her broom was spinning and she hadn't even realized it. A red pony tail whipped her in the face with every turn and her hands held on for dear life. Somehow, her legs became loosened from their vise-like grip and now they were splayed out in the air, being thrown around in the air like a rag doll's. Ignoring the vomit rising from her stomach, Ginny opened her mouth and let out an unearthly scream.

"GINNY!"

Somebody's voice. A female, was calling to her. But Ginny couldn't see. Everything was moving to fast, her eyes watered from being hit with her hair, and her brain rattled in her skull as she continued to spin on her broom. The taste of bile was choking her now. Filling her nostrils and burning her throat. The broom apparently had enough of the ride and finally successfully bucked her off. She opened her mouth to scream again but winded up retching.

Ginny tumbled in the air and for a brief moment, everything was calm. She could feel the wind coming up to meet her, feel the drying tears on her face, hear her heart beat once, twice and it felt like she was flying. All sound was turned off in that instant. But then the earth came back to her with a startling intensity. She hit the ground and suddenly the sound was too loud and pushed in on her ears. There was pain again.

"GINNY!" Hermione screamed at her right.

Ginny groaned, turned on her side, and threw up again. Tears leaked freely from her eyes. People were pulling her up. Two people. Hermione and Ron. There were voices attacking her ears and grass under her hands. She dug her nails into the dirt to relieve the feeling that she was falling off of the face of the earth. Hermione was talking about how Ginny didn't dip toward the floor when she came to the staircase, she just stayed at the same high height, so her broom reacted badly and began spinning. Ron had the doors open already, so she just kept flying straight and went past them.

"C'mon, Ginny. We need to go," Ron whispered and began pulling her gently.

Ginny kept her eyes shut and her breathing even. She held tight to Ron as Hermione continued babbling reasons for the broom's behavior. A calmer part of Ginevra's mind recognized it as her guilty conscience needing reassurance. Well, Ginny knew a lot about guilty consciences, and she decided if making long drawn out excuses and theories made Hermione feel better, then she might as well let her at it.

Ginevra was half carried, half dragged towards first what she guessed was the edge of the forbidden forest. They pulled her along it, presumably to keep hidden, until Ginny felt she had enough strength to open her eyes and stumble the rest of the way.

They were almost there when she realized she was clutching Hermione's hand in her own.

_What happened back in the room of requirement this morning? she thought to herself. I don't understand. One minute we were talking normally and the next we were snogging. Hermione wanted to tell me something… but Ron interrupted her. What did she want to say to me?_

"Here we are," Ron said softly.

They stood there looking at the whomping willow.It's branches perfectly still, almost innocent seeming. But Ginny knew the moment they got into close range the things wouldn't seem so innocent anymore. She shivered slightly and leaned into Hermione.

Ron looked back at them. He looked frightened, but forced a large grin on his face.

"No use waiting here, is it? Here goes nothing…"

His words didn't process until a minute later, when he was already running top speed toward the willow. The two girls' jaws dropped and Ginny felt Hermione's nails dig painfully into her hand.

"What is he doing?" Ginny whispered, astounded, more to herself than to her friend.

Hermione threw off Ginny's hand. She still seemed to be shocked.

"RON!" she screamed, and stumbled over her first step before running after him.

"Hermione! NO!" Ginny yelled at her and easily caught up. She grabbed Hermione from behind and prevented her from moving.

Hermione thrashed in her arms. "Let me GO! Ron can't just run up to the whomping willow! He'll be killed!" Tears splashed down her cheeks as she said this.

The creaking of wood startled them both, and they looked up in horrified fascination as the whomping willow began to move.

* * *

**A/N: I am so very, _very_ sorry for the late update. I honestly didn't know it's been this long until today. I had a chapter that was almost ready for the net in September, but then my computer got all its files erased. That includes the next chapter of Shards of a Diamond, and its revision I started. Doesn't matter now, I suppose. I want to finish this story before Christmas, which really shouldn't be that hard. The story is nearly complete now and all my artistic blocks are going away.**

**Speaking of art, I'm asking for any fans of Hazardous Sanity, or _ANY_ of my fanfiction really, who draw that would like to make some fanart. I'd be very interested in seeing some and may even make a gallery for it. If there is enough response for HS, I will rewrite this story entirely. Edit it and polish it. Then I'll make a website for it with the illustrations in chapters. Wouldn't that make a neat little project? **

**Next chapter should be coming sooner than this one did, and reviews make me work even faster. -hint, hint, nudge, nudge-**

**Oh, and yes. Some mysterious happenings in this chapter, eh? What's up with Draco, I wonder? Theories are always fun to read! I wonder who'll actually get it... Hmmm... Or who'll try and kill me for the cliffy... Heheh.**


	18. Voldemort's New Bride

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Hazardous Sanity**

**Chapter Eighteen: Voldemort's New Bride**

_Don't stop if I fall  
And don't look back  
Oh baby don't stop  
Bury me and fade to black_

**-Hang 'Em High by My Chemical Romance**

_Hermione thrashed in her arms. "Let me GO! Ron can't just run up to the whomping willow! He'll be killed!" Tears splashed down her cheeks as she said this._

_The creaking of wood startled them both, and they looked up in horrified fascination as the whomping willow began to move._

Ron didn't seem to notice. His long legs were carrying him, faster and faster, towards his goal. Ginny couldn't breath. Pure panic ran through her veins and her hands slipped from Hermione's sides.

A branch swung down, aiming straight for Ron. Hermione mouthed wordlessly, which made Ginny think she wanted to scream out a warning, but couldn't locate her voice to do so. Ginny felt the same. Ron ducked under the branch quickly and never stopped running.

"Ron…" Hermione squeaked.

He was exceptionally close to the trunk now. Ginny's heart was beating loudly in her ears as she watched him.

_Please, please, please… Let him be all right, she thought in time with the pounding._

Another branch swerved in his direction. Ron dropped to the floor and lay flat for a second before jumping back up again and running. He dodged another branch, but just as he did, another one smacked him on the back of his head. Hard. He hit the ground and stayed still for what seemed like too long.

The branch came pummeling toward his still frame, and for one heart stopping moment, Ginny thought she was going to lose another brother. However, Ron wasn't going to be defeated so easily. He quickly rolled away and onto his feet again. He ran towards the trunk with renewed speed. Dodging tree limbs with astonishing ease and grace, he dived near arms' length of the trunk and punched the knot on the tree. The willow suddenly froze.

Hermione squeaked in what Ginny guessed was relief.

Then he turned around, and tripped over an upraised tree root.

_So much for grace, Ginny thought, watching him._

Hermione suddenly started laughing, which quickly turned into sobs. She began running to Ron and threw her arms around his neck, still crying uncontrollably. She planted kisses all over his face, before kissing him deeply. Ginevra followed at a jog, frowning at the stabs of pain going into her heart.

When she got there Hermione was only sniffling. Ron beckoned her over to the trunk. When he spoke, he sounded breathless.

"All right, Ginny. I know you've never been here before, so keep close to Hermione and I, okay?"

He waited for a response, so she nodded.

"Ron…" she started uneasily. "What if-"

He turned to her sharply. "No what ifs. It's Harry in there, no matter what's wrong with him. All we need to do is bring him back to the castle."

"But-"

"It's three against one, Ginny! What can happen?" he challenged.

She bit back her retort and motioned for him to go ahead, not trusting her voice. To her surprise, Hermione's sniffling was gone and she jumped in immediately after.

_They are too used to things like this, she decided grimly, and went in after Hermione._

The first impression Ginny had was that everything was too old. It was extremely dark and dusty, so much in fact that she felt herself wanting to sneeze. Her footsteps were padded by the thick layers of grime, spider webs, and dust.

"_Lumos." _

Ginny glanced quickly at Ron, who had just lit his wand, and do the same. Hermione followed directly after.

"Let's go," Ron said, and started walking off ahead of them again.

Ginny was startled to see that from where she was walking behind him, she could see that he was bleeding from the back of his head. Through his fiery hair it was hard to spot, but now it was there, trailing down his pale neck. She swallowed uneasily and grabbed his arm.

"What?" he hissed.

"Ron, you're bleeding!"

"I know. It's nothing, Ginny. Just a scratch," he insisted, and started walking ahead of her again.

_A scratch doesn't bleed that much, she thought to say, but what was the use? They couldn't turn back now. They had to get to Harry first. Before it was too late._

"Where do we go?" she asked them.

Ron was looking around. "I'm not too sure, but the last time we were here..."

He started up a flight of stairs, holding the creaking banister to steady himself.

_He's becoming dizzy, Ginny thought sadly. But he couldn't have lost that much blood... The wound on his head must really be bothering him._

When they got to the top of the stairs, Ginny inhaled deeply to calm her fretting nerves. Beside her, Hermione's hand slipped into her own. She half wanted to knock it out of its grip, but couldn't find the heart to do so.

Ron went ahead to a door and pulled it open. He paused in the doorway.

"Harry," he croaked.

Ginny's heart sped up. She pulled her hand out of Hermione's and ran toward the door, shoving Ron aside.

Harry sat on a bed in front of her, smiling calmly. A fire was lit on the other side of the room. She looked around, astounded. The room was beautiful. It was well furnished, clean, and warm. Nothing like her brother had described. Harry got up from his seat on the bed and approached her. By then she realized Hermione and Ron were next to her, gaping at the room as well.

"Hello, Ginny," he said, giving her an eerie smile. In the firelight she thought she caught something in his eye. A red, catlike glint.

She gulped. "Hello, Harry. How are you?" she asked slowly, stalling for time so the other two could realize what was going on.

_This isn't Harry. Harry... he would have never known how to transfigure so many things, or would have bothered just to make himself comfortable for a short while. He doesn't say "Hello" like that. And now he seems so confident and sure of himself... That isn't Harry at all. It's Voldemort. Those eyes..._

Hermione was watching him oddly too, Ginny noted, with that calculating look in her eye. Ron didn't seem to notice anything at all. He was flamboyant, asking how Harry had transformed the room so well. Hermione caught her eye and Ginny nodded. They had to get Ron to notice so they could stun him and bring him back to the castle. He was too dangerous to provoke now.

"Would you like something to eat?" Harry asked charmingly.

Ron blinked. "Sure, but Harry, we need to talk. You have to come back to the castle. This is insanity, mate. You can't just stay here all your life, waiting for You-Know-Who to brainwash you or something. We're your friends. We can help you."

Harry's eyes flashed for a moment before his smile slipped on again. Now Ginny knew why it was so eerie. It was snakelike.

"First let's eat a bit, won't we? You all must have missed dinner on my account. It's the least I can do."

Ron seemed to be noticing the strangeness as well. Harry was never very interested in food. "Yeah, okay… But what have you got to eat? It doesn't look like you have much."

"Yes, Harry," Hermione said cautiously. "We can all just... eat in the castle, you know. The house elves are always more than happy to serve you."

Ginny's head snapped in Hermione's direction. It was a test. A very subtle test, but one nonetheless.

Harry just nodded, apparently seeing nothing odd in what his best friend had said. "Yes, but I had a nice dinner planned for all of us. An apology dinner for me running off like I did. It wasn't a very smart thing to do, now was it?" He smiled at them all in such a way that they couldn't disagree even if they had wanted to.

"Now all we have to do is wait for another dinner guest. He should be arriving shortly."

"What?" Ron asked, startled. "Who?"

"Actually, two dinner guests. But one is already here. You three, of course, will be the guests of honor."

"Harry... Are you all right? What dinner guests? There's no one else here," Hermione told him, her eyes scanning the room quickly.

"How wrong you are," he told them, grinning. It wasn't a nice grin.

_We need to do something. We need to do something **now.**_

The door closed behind them, making the three teenagers jump.

Ginny tried to give Ron and Hermione a signal, but they seemed too confused and startled to notice.

"Oh, wait, I think he has just arrived," Harry informed them all, his smile, if possible, growing even larger.

Suddenly a red light came shooting out of thin air and hit Ron in the back. He fell to the ground, the look of shock still frozen to his face. Before Ginny knew what was happening, Harry shot another red light toward Hermione and someone had a steel grip on her hands. She screamed.

_"Silencio." _

Ginny's voice died in her throat. She twisted her head so she could see who was holding her and saw one of the most repulsive men she had ever encountered. He had beady little eyes, a balding head, and large ratlike teeth. Only one of his hands held her. It was silver.

_Pettigrew, _she thought, shivering slightly. All of the things she had heard about this disgusting little man...

"You may come out now, Draco," Harry said into the air.

Ginny gave a silent gasp. _Malfoy. _

He was the happiest Ginny had seen him, though he was looking at the image of Harry with thinly veiled dislike.

"Take care of them," Harry told him, motioning toward Ron and Hermione.

Ginny's struggling increased.

_No! she screamed in her head. Please don't hurt them! Please!_

But Malfoy wasn't intending on hurting them, he just binded them securely and turned toward Ginny. "Her, too?"

Harry nodded. Ginny felt the steel hand release her arms, and she went to run, but Malfoy had already shot the spell at her. She fell to the floor, wriggling somewhat like a worm. Harry laughed at her and she winced as the binds started cutting into her flesh.

"It's no good to struggle, little Ginevra," Harry whispered.

"Or shall I say Lana Gwen?" He asked, pulling her up and holding her against himself.

Ginny was revolted- and terrified.

"Wake them up," he ordered, pointing at the two still forms by the door.

Draco nodded and waved his wand in their direction. Two groans and they began wriggling on the floor, trying to escape their bonds.

"Hey!" Ron yelled hoarsely. "What's going on?"

Draco smirked at him, and Ron saw.

"What the hell is _he_ doing here?" Ron asked loudly, struggling to see his surroundings.

Draco walked over and kicked him in the face, smirking in triumph when Ron began to cough up blood.

"Now, now, Draco…" Harry, or as Ginny began to think of him as, Voldemort chided joyfully.

"We must play nice with our guests of honor."

Ron moved his head and glanced at Voldemort. "What did you do to Harry? HARRY! We're right here, Harry! Your best-"

Draco had kicked him again. Ron started cursing Draco with every word he knew, it seemed like, and a few that he seemed to have made up. Hermione, who had been strangely quiet during all of this, finally spoke up.

"Leave us alone!" she screamed, and Ginny realized that while silent, she had worked herself up into a sitting position.

Harry chuckled into Ginny's ear and she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. He slowly ran his hand (Voldemort's hand, Ginny tried to remember) down her side.

"Get your fucking hands OFF OF MY SISTER!" Ron bellowed, struggling against his bonds harder than ever. Ginny was saddened to see that blood was dripping from the shallow cuts where they had cut in, and his teeth had a layer of pink on them as he spat out more blood on the floor.

"Oh, I will, Weasley. But only for this," he dug in his cloak pocket, and let Ginny fall to the floor. Ron looked further enraged by this.

He took out a small velvet sachet, and held it up for everyone to see. Using Harry's now almost unnaturally long fingers, he opened it and pulled out what looked like a spiked dog collar.

"I got one for each of you," he said, sounding very pleased with himself. "They even have your names engraved on the ids."

They all stared at him as if he was mad. Harry merely chuckled.

"They can only be taken off by the one who put them on, a simple trick for animal owners so nobody can steal their pet. But these," he said, holding one up, "are very special. I have tampered with them personally. They drain every little drop of magical power out of the 'pet' and give it to the 'master'."

There was a shocked silence.

Harry waved the black spiked collar and read off of the id. "Ronald Weasley." Then he threw it at Ron's feet.

Next he took out a thinner collar, still black but just studded with metal, instead of the lethal looking spikes jutting out of Ron's. "Hermione Granger," he read and tossed it at her feet. She glanced at it with unease and tried to inch away.

"And now I have a very special one…"

Harry pulled out another. But this one was different than the others'. It was black on one side, and white on the other. It looked like a cat collar, thinner than Hermione's. However, it was also very thick. Instead of metal spikes or studs, it held emeralds. The id was a gleaming gold.

Harry held it delicately. He held out the white side first, and the emeralds melted through the surface, changing sides. He read the name. "Ginevra Weasley." Ginny waited for him to drop it to her feet like he did the others, but instead he turned it over to the black side.

The emeralds melted through the surface again. He read the other side of the id. "Lana Gwen Riddle."

It felt like her lungs collapsed.

"You'll be mine, Ginny," he told her in a low voice. "And with this, I can change who you are whenever I like. See? You don't need to be insane." He smiled like a Cheshire cat.

"You just need to be my slave."

_And your wife, Ginny thought, horrified._

From the looks on the faces of Ron and Hermione, they felt the same.

"I do hate you having two names…" Harry said, as if to himself. "How about we scratch this-" he pointed his wand at the id, "out?"

He smiled to himself. "Gwen Riddle. I have to keep my lineage going, don't I? Don't worry," he said to the dismayed looking Ginny. "I will properly propose at tonight's little… party. Then we will marry after I have finished some business."

"I always told you, you will be my queen as I conquer the world. The conquering begins tonight, and so will our lives together."

It sounded so frightening, Ginny would have vomited again if there was something left in her stomach.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was finished weeks ago, but only just now has decided to calm down and actually let me _submit _it. I hope you enjoyed it! It's longer than usual, if you haven't noticed ;) Chapter 19 is already underway, and I'm hoping to finish this story before the new year so I can focus more on "Nox" and "Shards of a Diamond". Comments and threats to cut off my ears are most welcome! Heheh .; **

Chapter Nineteen: A Dinner Party


	19. A Dinner Party

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**_

**Hazardous Sanity**

**Chapter Nineteen: A Dinner Party **

_You almost always pick the best times_

_To drop the worst lines_

_You almost made me cry again this time_

_Another false alarm_

_Red flashing lights_

_Well this time I'm not going to watch myself die_

_I think I made it a game to play your game_

_And let myself cry_

_I buried myself alive on the inside_

_So I could shut you out_

_And let you go away for a long time_

**-Buried Myself Alive by The Used**

* * *

"_I always told you, you will be my queen as I conquer the world. The conquering begins tonight, and so will our lives together."_

_It sounded so frightening, Ginny would have vomited again if there was something left in her stomach._

* * *

Harry stepped over her body, leaving Ginevra shivering in fright. He was walking in the direction of Ron, who looked up at him rebelliously.

"What have you done to Harry?" he spat rudely at him.

He merely chuckled. "I don't know what you mean Ron. I _am_ Harry."

He bent over and retrieved the black spiked collar. Ron's eyes widened, then narrowed dangerously.

"You're not putting that on me!"

"I don't believe you have a choice."

Ron looked desperate. "Harry! C'mon, mate! You can fight it! I know you-"

Draco kicked him in the face again.

Harry chuckled again and stepped over Ron, who was spitting out a tooth. He placed the collar easily on his neck, then turned towards to Hermione.

"Will you be as foolish as your little boyfriend here?" Harry asked seriously.

Hermione shook her head. "And he's not my boyfriend," she told him quietly. Ron and Ginny gave her a surprised look, but neither said anything.

Harry's eyes hardened as he placed the collar around her neck. The thought that he probably made it too tight to be comfortable passed through Ginny's mind, but her heart was beating so quickly in fright that she didn't care.

"What are you going to do with us?" Hermione asked.

"As I said previously, we will be joining a little dinner party. Now that I have all my guests of honor, we will be leaving shortly in time for the… festivities."

Ginny shivered, feeling her heart ice over at the words.

To the shock of everyone in the room, Harry spun sharply on his heel and dropped heavily on the floor. Facing Ginevra. She shivered again.

"But first I wonder how I will bring young Ginny to the party. Shall I bring her as herself, defiant and afraid? Or shall I bring her as Lana, submissive and confident?"

The silence in the room seemed to buzz. Ginny glared at a far away wall with a fierce kind of plead.

_Let me be me… Please let me be me! At least I have hope that way!_

But a voice whispered in her ear, gentle and commanding at the same time:

_You will have hope with me. I am on your side, Ginevra. Tom expects you to want to be yourself; to be in control. But he does not know that I still stand as my own, on your side and in love with your Hermione._

A fierce jealousy suddenly ripped through Ginny's stomach. She shoved it down.

_She is not mine, but as long as I shall exist as an independent thinking soul, I will do what I can to protect her. Being with Tom will never let me achieve that._

_You would give up all of that power,_ Ginny thought, _just for one muggleborn witch?_

_Power?_ The voice scoffed._ I have long since learned that there is no power with Lord Voldemort as your master. You become a toy, a simple event in the larger scheme of events where he is concerned. I sometimes wonder if he was ever loved, or how he could have avoided such a thing in all of his years._

_He was loved, _Ginny replied. _He just never loved back._

"Ginny?"

Brought back suddenly, she blinked and the room came back into focus.

"I was asking," Harry said impatiently, "if you would like to choose for yourself."

She nodded, a ball of hope and uncertainty unraveling in her chest.

Harry waved his wand and she found that she had access to her vocal chords again.

With a rasp in her voice, Ginny sealed her fate. "I want to be Lana. I don't want to know what is going to go on. I'd rather be ignorant."

"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed, his eyebrows almost lost in his hair.

Harry smiled. "Very nice choice, Ginevra. Though if you choose, you can still know what is going on. You just couldn't do anything about it." He laughed harshly.

Hermione was frowning, but showed neither disappointment nor acceptance.

Harry held the collar in his hands, and slid it, almost gently, around Ginny's neck.

After a last breath of air and glance at her surroundings, she felt a sharp tug around her waist… and all was gone.

Lana opened her eyes to several gasps.

"Hello, master," she greeted Harry, feeling strangely tired.

Harry smiled his cruel smile at her and grabbed her chin. He pressed down his fingers and watched in satisfaction as the beautiful girl before him winced.

"_My _Lana."

Eyes watering from the pain of his fingers digging into her flesh, she merely nodded. Tears fell from her lashes before Harry finally let go. He stood suddenly, and pointed at Wormtail.

"Grab the girl, she shouldn't be too much trouble for you. I suppose you remember where you're supposed to go?" he asked Wormtail snidely.

Wormtail nodded, grabbed Hermione, and before any of them could blink, they were gone.

Ron yelled in outrage. "Where has he taken her?"

Draco kicked him in the face again and looked towards Harry.

"Take him," Harry simply commanded, and they too were soon gone.

Lana said nothing as all of this transpired. She was to be a good servant and good servants were silent unless spoken to. Deep inside, there was agony in her. Ginny was watching. But the best thing to do was remain passive until the time was right to strike. She really hoped Ginevra would understand that.

Hands curled themselves around her wrists and she realized she was free to move.

_Harry Potter,_ Lana thought, looking into the emerald eyes.

However, she knew it was not so. _Where are you? _she wondered desperately.

There were lips crushing themselves against hers, and it took a moment to realize she was being kissed. A familiar kiss with new lips. The lips were softer, but just as fierce and the new teeth just as painful. More tears made their way down her cheeks.

_Where are you?_

Then she was being pulled into a dark tunnel.

"_**TRAITOR!"**_

_The words echoed in the emptiness of her own mind. Ginny punched a dark wall and screamed in frustration. _

"_**I TRUSTED YOU! I TRUSTED YOU AND YOU SIT AND DO NOTHING! YOU KISS MY ENEMY!"**_

_Bitter tears rolled down Ginevra's cheeks in time with Lana's. _

"_You better do something good, Lana! You better have one bloody brilliant plan in your pretty head to save us all, especially now that you let us into their 'little dinner party'."_

_Merlin's beard,_ was the first thought that came into Lana's mind when she next opened her eyes.

They were in a large ball room, probably belonging to a mansion. Even as they stood there people emerged. Dark cloaks swishing to and fro and porcelain masks being carried and worn. Over the sea of black she could make out Ronald's fiery hair, and her precious Hermione's wild mane. Many people whispered and spoke around her. Many more pointed. It took a moment to register that they were not looking at her, per say, but Harry. Or in this case, Voldemort.

Voldemort chuckled and tightened his already vice like grip on her wrist. He began pulling her to the front of the room roughly, so she tripped repeatedly on various death eaters' cloaks and her own two feet. Stumbling on, he shoved her onto a platform and stepped over her when she took too long to get up.

"My _faithful_ death eaters," he said, striding gracefully towards the center of the platform.

Dozens of cloaks swirled around to face him immediately if they were not already doing so.

"I would like to welcome you to one of the greatest… _celebrations_ of the century. We have here, four Hogwarts students. Usually, this would not be such a grand accomplishment, but you will soon know why it is tonight. As you can see, and already knew (for I have warned you beforehand), I hold one of their forms. Harry Potter, simpleton with a mind of gelatin. How easy it was to gain access of the so called 'Savior of the Wizarding World's mind," he told them, a hint of red overtaking the green for a moment in his eyes.

"Next, we have Ginevra Weasley, who has had her soul ripped in two. My greatest accomplishment. Two girls in one body, able to switch at my will."

Many gasps filled the air, and Voldemort's snake-like smile returned.

"You see here now, is the one and only Lana Gwen," he continued.

More gasps this time from those who have heard of her murders at Hogwarts.

"Soon to be my mistress."

Somebody fainted in the crowd and was quickly revived before the Dark Lord could become displeased.

"Silence," he ordered. "There is also the famously clever Hermione Granger. Mudblood. _Lesbian," _he added spitefully and there were growls of anger and bloodthirst in the audience.

"Last and definitely least, Ronald Weasley. Sidekick, blood traitor, relation to Ginevra and a bitch of both Potter and Granger. Filth."

"You may wonder why I tell you all of this. Well, my _dear_ death eaters, it is quite simple, really. It is so you have things to scream at them while they bleed and writhe in pain. Humiliate them. _Hurt_ them. Then I expect us to have some uninvited guests drop by," Voldemort told them, Harry's lips stretching over his face in a horrific parody of a smile.

"I want each and every one of those 'guests' killed on sight."

It didn't need to be said outright. The four teenagers were there as bait. Bait and a death eater's idea of _fun._ When the order was led there to save them, they would be overpowered and killed. Lana shuddered and wiped away more tears. She needed to be strong. She needed to be strong for Ginny; for Hermione; for Harry and for the entire wizarding world.

How had she grown so weak when she once was so strong?

_You were never strong, _her own voice told her. _You were cruel. Now you're becoming one with Ginny again, so you're cruelty becomes evened out with compassion and love._

_But not completely evened out, _Lana thought, sighing sadly. _We are still going mad without this damned collar to control us._

"Let the party-"

Voldemort snapped his fingers and stepped off of the platform (Lana again in his grip) as a table cloth flew onto it.

"begin."

Plates upon plates of food and goblets of drink were soon piling onto the table cloth. The Dark Lord waved his wand carelessly over his shoulder and everyone watched in astonishment as the platform began to change forms. It was now a long, elegant looking table. Seats placed evenly around it along it, with settings at each. Death Eaters began taking off their cloaks and masks, revealing (usually) rich, silken clothing underneath. Robes and dressing robes, sparkling jewels, and wonderfully made ornaments in some witches' hair.

It truly was a celebration, and Hermione, Ron, and Lana were to be their entertainment.

_This is sick,_ Lana thought, her lips slightly agape. _This is **really** sick._

Music began as the Death Eaters seated themselves to eat. It was obvious they weren't used to such treatment- the Dark Lord must be gleeful indeed. There was a familiar taste of bile entering Lana's mouth, and her eyes watered at the taste. It had to be one of the most disgusting things she had ever witnessed. These people were celebrating death and torture- and eventually the battle that would soon break out in the very grounds of this mansion.

_Where did they get a mansion? _Lana vaguely wondered.

"Sit," a voice said behind her.

She turned to see the Dark Lord at her side, grabbing her again and steering her towards one end of the table. The end they were headed towards was large enough to hold her, Voldemort, Hermione and Ron, which it did. Hermione and Ron were both in shackles at their seats, while Voldemort and Lana sat in the center in rather comfortable chairs.

The Dark Lord snapped his fingers again, and then a leash was held in his hand. The leash was unsurprisingly connected to Lana's collar. When everyone was seated, he rose. Silence entered the room immediately.

"Eat, drink, and dance if that suits your will," he told them all (the last suggestion held a hint of displeasure). "Then you will fight and we will have many more things to celebrate. Now my future bride has a few words to say." He tugged once on the leash and Lana found herself standing.

"Much gratitude to the Malfoys for hosting such a grand event." She paused as the death eaters around the table clapped appreciatively. Then she raised her goblet.

"To the Dark Lord's reign! May it last eternally as the earth!"

People cheered and raised their goblets, praising their lord.

"Traitor," Ron hissed at her.

Lana blinked away her confusion and realized something. The Dark Lord could control her with that leash.

_He could force me to do anything he wishes, _she thought, trying not to show her panic.

Across the long table, she saw the Malfoys seated comfortably. Draco smirked at her and Narcissa gave her a calculating glance. Lucius made no change in demeanor.

_What can I do?_

Almost automatically (and by no will of her own), Lana found herself eating. The food was undeniably delicious but everything felt like rubber in her mouth. It was awfully hard to get down, and she almost choked several times.

_He's forcing me to eat. _

_What else can he make me do?_

Dinner seemed to go on for ages. Lana wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad thing. The faster dinner went, the faster this could all be over with. On the other hand, what if they lose? What if somebody dies? Then she would be wishing to be sitting here again like a loyal dog, shoveling food into her mouth against her will. Lana sighed.

She needn't have worried about when the feast would end. The food disappeared from the table a moment later. Only then did she realize Ron and Hermione were given food, but refused to eat it.

_They wanted to see the two of them sick up while they're being tortured,_ was a passing thought in her mind. _How very revolting!_

Harry (Voldemort, she reminded herself) stood. The joyful, yet eerily sinister talk around the table ceased at once. Voldemort smiled. It was amazing how somebody could smile and not look nice at all, but the complete opposite.

"I have a question to ask, my dear Lana," he announced, that creepy smile still planted on his face. He stared intently at her and brought out a small black box from under his cloak. Lana felt a wave of dizziness come over her.

"Will you be my wife?" It didn't sound like a question at all.

"Yes, of course, my love," Lana found herself answering.

The Dark Lord popped open the box and slipped a silver ring on her finger. In the middle was a large, bright emerald.

Lucius began to clap, and following his example, so did all of the death eaters.

Voldemort waved his hand for silence.

Apprehension radiated off of the three teenagers as he stood silently for a few moments and snapped his fingers. Everything on the table disappeared, along with the chairs that some death eaters still sat on. They fell to the ground with a thud, getting up quickly if not too much alcohol was consumed. Most of the others stood. Lana didn't even feel a spike of pleasure when Draco fell on his bottom and couldn't get on his feet until his father helped him (rather stiffly and angrily).

Hermione and Ron sat on the floor, still chained up.

"_Crucio."_

The curse was unexpected and quite sudden. Hermione fell back on her chained arms and blood curdling screams soon filled the large room and echoed… Lana winced. The curse seemed to go on for ages. Hermione writhed on the floor, screaming and sobbing and begging. Then it stopped. She was laying still and it was no doubt in anybody's mind that she had passed out.

Lana felt herself getting up, which felt as strange as you could imagine when she hadn't even realized she was on her knees. Her face felt oddly sticky and wet. She had been crying. Quickly wiping away the remnants of her tears and sniffling, she tried to compose herself.

Voldemort pointed his wand at the unconscious Hermione and the struggling Ronald. He was in a rage, trying to get to his best friend and (_Former? _Lana wondered) girlfriend.

"Hermione!" he yelled. "HERMIONE! Please wake up," he pleaded her still form as they floated onto the platform that was the dining table a few moments before.

"My followers," Voldemort said, spinning around to address them all. "Our lives begin tonight."

Rows and rows of death eaters cheered.

In a flurry of confusion and movement, Lana could only feel Harry's (_Voldemort's!_) hand clutching her own and see a swarm of black all around her. People were radiating with different emotions, the atmosphere sizzled, panic and claustrophobia was ripping through Lana's very soul…

"HERMIONE!" a familiar, male voice shouted.

Death eaters laughed and cheered. Screamed and whispered.

"Stop it! Stop it!"

Who was screaming?

"Go AWAY! Leave me alone!"

Who's voice was that?

"Shut up!"

_**SMACK!**_

Screams… Screaming. Lana's face felt sore. She was being choked by her collar and was being forced to the front of the room.

"Help me! Help me! No! NO! STOP IT!"

Who was that?

"LET GO OF ME!"

_**SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!**_

"I SAID 'SHUT UP' YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE BITCH!"

Lana cried out. Her face was in such pain!

"Why doesn't this damn thing WORK?"

Lana sobbed and fell on her knees again. "Go… away."

Voldemort (_HARRY!) _pulled her leash again until she stumbled forward and crawled behind him.

"Harry," she cried.

_Tom…_

The hand on the leash twitched.

"Harry Potter," she sobbed, her face near his feet as she crawled.

_Tom Riddle…_

"Please, Harry… Harry James Potter, please…"

_Please, Tom… Tom Marvolo Riddle, please…_

The hand twitched again, more violently this time.

"Shut up," he whispered.

"HARRY!"

_VOLDEMORT!_

"I told you to shut up!"

A worn trainer (_Harry's trainer! HARRY'S!_) smashed her in the face and she recoiled, whimpering.

"Harry…" she whispered again, barely audible as the leash forced her to continue behind him.

Lana felt confused. Her brain was buzzing. Thoughts decorated her head like rainbows, beautiful and tempting and looking so _real_... but unable to hold onto.

"Harry," she mumbled, sniffling. Why did she keep saying Harry?

_Who is Harry?_

_Where am I?_

_Who am I?_

_Harry! Tom! VOLDEMORT!_

She winced as someone stepped on her hand. Harry was a good name. Good. _Good. _It was a good thing to say, so she had to say it.

"Harry, Harry, Harry…" she whispered, remembering it. It was important to remember it, it just _was._

The hand in front of her dropped the leash. Working quickly, though with no effort of thought, she began clawing at her collar.

_It won't come off! Why won't it come off?_

There was a reason, and she knew the reason, but it was buried so deeply in her brain that she couldn't reveal it.

So instead, she tore off the leash in a frenzy and clumsily shoved herself to her feet.

Voldemort (_Harry!_) was still standing in the same place, clutching at his messy head of hair and gritting his teeth.

"My lord…"

"Are you okay, my lord?"

Several death eaters stopped and gathered around Voldemort (_HARRY!_) and were attempting to help him. Lana slipped away in the crowd, feeling strange in the ocean of black cloaks and porcelain masks.

_I wonder where I am._

She wandered to the very front of the room, where a platform rose before her. There were many people gathered around it, cheering insanely. On the platform were at least a dozen death eaters yelling and cackling while pointing their wands at two figures laying on the platform floor.

A girl with brown fuzzy hair was weakly getting to her knees just to be hexed back to the floor again. Her clothes were in tatters and her face was bloody and tear streaked. Bruises were already forming on various body parts and blood seemed to be leaking from everywhere. Her nose, her ears, her mouth… Lana shivered and was surprised to find that she was crying silently.

A boy with red hair was laying next to the girl. He seemed to have more energy in him, and was valiantly trying to get over to the girl. He yelled and cursed and screamed at the death eaters around him. One of his arms seemed to be in an unnatural angle, along with several fingers. His ankle was swollen, and so were both of his eyes and lips. The boy looked particularly beaten. Even as she watched, he was hit with diffindo and several articles of clothing fell off, revealing deep gashes in his flesh.

Lana stumbled away and was sick in a corner. Shuddering and gasping, she wasn't sure of what to do, or why she was there at all.

"Help me, oh, help me…" she pleaded no one in particular.

Then she spotted him.

Drunk, a boy somewhere around her own age was passed out on the floor. Nobody paid much attention to him, except to frown and shake their head, or perhaps kick him in the side when they thought no one was looking. She knelt beside him and pulled back his hood. He wore a mask on his face and had silvery blond hair. Not knowing what she was doing and not really caring, she pulled off his robes and slid them on quickly. Then she pulled off his mask and saw a pale, pointed face before slipping that on as well.

_I'm supposed to do something else. What it is?_

The thought bothered her, so she knelt by the boy again and studied him.

_What is it that I'm supposed to do?_

He looked disturbed in his sleep, and mumbled occasionally. He had on what looked like a school uniform. Above his head, his hand rested. It held a wand loosely. Lana took it, somehow knowing it was what she was supposed to do, and ran from the boy knowing deep inside that it wasn't good to stay near him any longer than necessary.

_Where am I going?_ she wondered, running toward the middle of the crowd aimlessly.

There she saw him.

Voldemort.

_Harry._

He looked absolutely furious, and his eyes were leaping from green to red at an alarming rate. She was right in front of him and he was _looking at her_. He was looking right at her and _speaking._ No sound made it to Lana's ears, however. The only words she heard were her own panicked thoughts.

_He knows! He knows! Oh, no, oh, no, no, nooo…_

The Dark Lord (_the savior_) strode over to her and grabbed the neck of her cloak. He pulled her masked face closer to his and snarled at her.

"Didn't I say, go and find her right now? Are you deaf, or just stupid?" he roared at her, throwing her to the floor like a rag doll.

Lana jumped to her feet and ran.

_Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry…_

"The time is coming soon," he yelled at them all, shoving people aside as he made his way to the platform.

"Find her now! FIND LANA GWEN! We have no TIME! If I find ONE PERSON standing idly and not searching, they will be at the end of my WAND!"

People scattered like mice. A yell came from someone off to the side of the room.

"My lord! Draco Malfoy is over here! And he has no cloak and mask!"

"What?" Voldemort (_HARRY! HARRY! HARRY!_) roared.

Lana felt as if she was spinning. Everything was wrong. She didn't belong here. She was so confused! What was going on?

_Death. Life. Love. Hate. Pain. Pain. Pain._

The girl on the platform lay still. Too still. Her arm was hanging off of the platform and her eyes were closed. Abandoned as they were, the boy with the red hair crawled over next to her and grabbed her other hand and cried bitterly over her.

She could almost hear him moan, over the loud crowd, "Hermione…"

A light went on in her head suddenly.

_Hermione…_

Lana stared intently at the bedraggled girl. _Hermione…_

_Hermione!_

It was such a familiar name.

Suddenly there was a loud noise coming from the door of the room. Lana turned towards it.

"They're here!" several voices yelled.

"The order is here!"

Happiness flowed through Lana at the statement, though she knew not why.

Chanting arouse that soon squashed it.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

"DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!"

"KILL! KILL! KILL!"

"KILL THEM!" Voldemort ordered from the top of the platform.

"DEATH EATERS! DEATH EATERS! DEATH EATERS!" the crowd chanted, falling into some kind of formation and charging at them.

"DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!"

Lana screamed and covered her ears, running the opposite way and getting bustled by blood thirsty death eaters.

"Traitor!" somebody yelled at her.

She missed a bright green light by an inch or so and continued her stumbling run.

"The Dark Lord will deal with her later! C'mon!" someone else yelled and began chanting again. Only two words were heard over it all.

"DEATH! EATERS! DEATH! EATERS! DEATH! EATERS!"

Tears blurred her vision as she ran. Where was she running?

_Away, _was the only answer she could come up with.

Lana was closer to the platform now. Voldemort (_Harry!_)was levitating a large cage above himself. In it she could see the boy and girl. His eyes were a furious red now, and two people were behind him. She could make out more white blond hair, and the other had greasy black. Two women ran up to them. One with blond hair, the other with black. Voldemort said something to them and all four raised their wands. Now they were completely shielded with a sparkling green barrier.

They began to walk, or march as a better word, with the blond haired man and the black haired woman in the front, and the black haired man and the blond haired woman in the back.

A few dislocated thoughts came and went through Lana's brain:

_Lucius… Malfoy… Bellatrix… Lestrange… Narcissa… Malfoy… Professor Snape…_

Everything got cloudy again as she watched them march behind the charging crowds. Everyone seemed to be heading outside into the grounds. She stood there silently for a few moments before following quietly.

* * *

**A/N: You would not _believe _how happy I am to finally get this up! has been absolutely horrible to me these past few days and I wasn't able to upload this. I know I said I wanted this done before the New Year, but that obviously isn't going to happen, so I'll just say this- it'll definitely be over soon. Only two more chapters to go! Well, actually there's one chapter and an epilogue. **

**Anyway, I'm happy to say this is three times the usual length of Hazardous Sanity chapters, so I hope you enjoyed it! Think of it as a late Christmas present ;) Heheh. Extremely late. **

**Hope everyone has a happy new year!**

**Chapter Twenty: The Final Battle**


End file.
